Lambert's impressive record is matched only by his talent. Fighting
out of Ted Williams Combat Grappling, look for him to be a seasoned
pro who will be amongst the favorites to make the finals.

Faircloth is another Dave Strasser trained fighter. He is rough
and can do damage from both the top and bottom. What he lacks
in weight (235lbs is light in this behemoth field) he makes up
for in heart.

International
Martial arts Boxing
Seminar with
RICHARD BUSTILLO

A member of
the Black Belt Hall of Fame - Instructor of the Year Award, the
World Martial Arts Hall of Fame - Pioneer Award, and the Filipino
Martial Arts Hall of Fame - Life Time Achievement Award, has
the distinction of being certified as a law enforcement defensive
tactics instructor with the FBI, LAPD, and the LASD. Sigung Bustillo
is a senior instructor of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and a recognized
9th degree rank and Grandmaster with the fame Cacoy Doce Pares
Eskrima of Cebu, PI.

The hands-on
training is not designed to compete against your style but will
compliment all levels from beginner to advanced. We will not
teach you only martial art techniques. We will teach you to be
able to develop it. We call this process Jeet Kune Do. Evolve
with change for a simple and practical seminar. Under age 18
must have prior approval to attend. No spectators or video allowed.
Come see why Richard Bustillo is one of the most acclaimed and
sought after martial artist and Instructor.

HISTORY
IS MADE IN LONDON
Dana White and Dale Adams sign the UK UFC contract,
17th March 2002

Just
a little after eleven thirty in the Sports Café, Haymarket,
London, after an impressive video presentation about the history
of the UFC, Dana White and Dale Adams did what many people feared
would never happen here in the UK - they signed a contract allowing
the UFC to be held in the United Kingdom on Saturday 13th July
at the Royal Albert Hall and thus securing themselves a place
in the history books. The UFC joined forces with BAMMA, a UK
MMA association, headed by Dale Adams and Mark Woodard, with
all fights sanctioned under the BAMMA professional fighters rules
and code of conduct.

I
remember a number of years ago, talking to fighters and promoters
alike at events in the UK, of how they would long to see an event
such as the UFC in the UK; many voiced their concerns stating
that the local authorities would never grant such an event, and
as for the fights being held in a cage, no way Jose. In 2002,
all this has changed, thanks to promoters such as Paddy Mooney,
Andy Foreman and Andy Jardine, whose respective shows Cage Wars
and Millennium Brawl are now being held in the very creations
many people were confident UK fans would never get to see - who
says we have not made progress?

The
press conference was filled with broadsheet and tabloid journalists
and all the major UK lifestyle magazines, as well as many MMA
reporters and players, all eager to say that they were there
for such a historic occasion; Dana White was joined on stage
by Ian Freeman, Leigh Remedios, Mark Weir and Carlos Newton,
who answered questions from the audience and it was Leigh Remedios
who stole the limelight. When asked about his fight with Sudo,
Remedios brought down the house answering in typical fashion,
'on paper he's a lot better than me and seems some kind of superman,
so I'm just going to go out there and bang him out.' After an
excellent display of MMA fighting by Rough House gym fighters
Paul Sutherland and Mark Collett. It was also refreshing to see
that strange breed of creature, the managers and promoters, put
their differences to one side and make a united effort, by actually
communicating with one another and, dare I say, getting on with
one another.

A
number of fights were confirmed at the press conference, namely
Mark Weir versus Eugene Jackson; Leigh Remedios versus Genki
Sudo; Ian Freeman versus Frank Mir, who was absent from the conference
and a rematch between Carlos Newton and Matt Hughes; will we
see a double knockout once more in the Octagon?

In
his opening speech, Dana White said 'We are very excited to be
holding our first UFC event here in the UK at the legendary Royal
Albert Hall; my company Zuffa bought the UFC a year and a half
ago and we have been very aggressive in not only making it the
premier event in the US, but also around the world. We have just
had our first event in Japan the last weekend and was more successful
than we'd anticipated and now we plan on having the same success
in the UK.'

So
there you have it; Dana has set out his stall and with an aggressive
marketing campaign now set in motion, Zuffa are confident that
the Royal Albert Hall will be at full capacity; Sky Box Office
are working closely with Zuffa and the show will be available
on PPV for £14, but for the best experience, garb your
tickets now and be part of history in the making.

Ricardo
Pires is well known nowadays as the coach of a real good fighter:
Frank Mir. Since Mir started training with Pires 2 years ago,
Mir fought NHB 3 times and his fights lasted less than 15 minutes
all together, with two victories in under a minute. Mir credits
Pires for this work so let's get to know Ricardo Pires.....

Starting
from the beginning, when did you start to teach Jiu-Jitsu?
I started with Marcus Soares (Carlson Gracie student) back in
1978 in Copacabana.

Where
are your roots?
I have trained with few different guys like Marcus Soares, Jorge
Vazenlota, Ricardo Cavalcanti, Ricardo Liborio and Aloisio Silva
but I've learned and got my black-belt from Sergio Penha.

Did
you compete or coach more?
I competed and I am 2x times Pan American Champion, 2x times
brazilian nationals champion and 2x times Rio de Janeiro Champion
and l am not mentioning smaller tournaments!

When
did you move to Vegas?
I moved to Vegas in 2000.

Why?
I was tired of the brazilian economy and I talked to Penha about
open a school and he told me to go to Vegas, he has all his in-laws
living here. So I decided to come.

How
long has Frank Mir trained with you?
He is training with me for 2 years now, like 4 hours a day for
all those two years.

Do
you have other young guns coming?
Yes.

Who
are they?
Chad Davis is the one to keep eyes on.

How's
your team doing competing?
We competed most of the west coast tournaments last year and
we did very well.

Is
it true UFC board is training with you?
Yes, but they are not coming too often right now, due to a lot
of work with the UFC.

How
do you Frank's fight against Freeman in London?
I've been preparing Frank to be closer as possible to a complete
fighter, so we only decide during the fight.

Is
there any other UFC fighter training under you?
Yes.

Which
rules do you feel better, Pride or UFC?
I thing that they should combine both rules, they both have thinks
to be changed.

Do
you feel nervous when Frank is fighting?
Man, you have no idea how nervous l get.

Frank
was the first Jiu-Jitsu guy to fight another BJJ guy. how do
you feel about that?
Not good at all! You know that we, brazilians, think as one and
have an american fighting a brazilian in the same style is not
good.

Did
you receive any criticism on it?
Yes, but it's over now.

Few
people know but Frank is like a son to you, training with you,
sharing most part of his day with you and even more, living in
your house. Describe what feelings you have when he fights.
I am not that old (37) but l like Frank like a son. When he fights
l feel like my responsibilities triple so my feelings on his
wins is not like a trainer, it's more like a family.

How's
your academy going?
Students are already asking me to get a bigger place so l guess
is doing very well.

What's
the future plans?
I really don't think about the future that much, l try to make
sure that l do the right thinks in the present so what l am doing
in the present will reflect somehow in the future.

With
Barnett probably leaving UFC, Frank is closer to a title shot
than before. Do you think it will happen within this year?
In order for him to get in there l have to say like l said, let's
take care of the present and the present now is Ian Freeman.

Any
other words?
I'd like to thank all my students that showed a lot of team work,
without them this could not happen and I also would like to thank
Sergio Penha for sharing with me all his techniques.

Source:
Abu Dhabi

Macaco's
ReturnBy Eduardo Alonso
Photos by Joel Gold

Jorge
Macaco Patino is one of the most controversial and charismatic
NHB fighters in Brazil, and has been this way ever since his
first battles with Pele Landi several years ago. Wherever Macaco
is fighting, he brings excitement to the event. The last MECA
event in Curitiba, where he fought RVT member Gustavo Ximu, was
no exception. In a conversation held before his fight at MECA,
Macaco shared a lot of his views on fighting, training and a
fighter's behavior. Unfortunately, Patino ended up losing his
fight against Ximu by submission, but it was still very interesting
to review this interview and share it with FCF's readers, because
Macaco is really an interesting character and he surely will
be around the NHB game for a long time. The Octagon awaits...

FCF:
You are already a well known fighter abroad, but you spend a
good amount of time without fighting in the major events, only
training and helping your students. How was it for you to stay
away from the ring for such a long time?
JMP: Well, the last event that I fought was Deep, in January
2001. Then I suffered an injury on my left hand, I broke the
capsule of my hand hitting the opponent's face and the also hitting
the ring. From then on, I have been working with my students.
I have been working on my cardio, my techniques, and focusing
on my students. But, if something came up, I would fight! I already
had a fight abroad scheduled for this year and the MECA invitation
came about. MECA is very important here in Brazil, and my students
can watch me, so I need to work here inside Brazil too. It's
here that I make my money. When you go to fight abroad, you don't
have students there. But here I have students. So I have to put
my neck on the line! I make a living out of this, and I like
it. Besides, MECA is for sure the biggest NHB event in Brazil,
and if I'm not in it, I'm losing! Rudimar [Fedrigo] opened the
doors for me, and got me a very tough fight against Ximu. So,
may the best man win!

FCF:
You have been to some previous MECA editions, bringing your students
over to fight. This is the first time that you will actually
fight in the event. How can you compare both experiences?
JMP: I can only congratulate Rudimar on the event's organization,
and the Chute Boxe team for the great reception they always give
us! We always participated in the event, from the first MECA
to the fourth! We only haven't been here in the fifth. Now we're
back to MECA, with Luiz Azeredo and myself. Azeredo already won
two times in MECA, and he's coming for his third fight at the
event. My students have been working very hard, and you know
that it's not easy to step inside the ring. It's very tough!
You need very tough psychological work. There are some days that
everything will go right for you, and there are others that nothing
will go right. As a fighter, I know that, because it happens
to me a lot of times! I trained the whole year, I'm more than
ready, but when I step into the ring I get kind of locked. But
I'm relaxed, and I'll try to do a good work there. I have Jesus
in my heart, and thank God we had a great reception once again.
All the guys from the Chute Boxe team gave us a great support,
and we're here to add something to the event.

FCF:
Everybody knows what you're capable on the ground, but you have
been training a lot of Muay Thai lately. Are you already feeling
more comfortable to trade now?
JMP: Since I have been training Muay Thai with Luiz Azeredo for
more than a year and a half now, we have been hitting each other
for that long, I could do a good showing of my stand up in Japan.
I traded a lot of strikes with my opponent at Deep, I was able
to hit him with several punches and kicks, but I couldn't knock
him out because he was very tough indeed! He was a real Samurai.
He was much bigger and stronger than me. As for my fight with
Ximu, let's see what happens. It'll be like a major test. He
is also a stand-up fighter, which I wasn't in the past, but I'm
becoming one now! So I'll look for the stand-up fight. I'll look
to fight in his style... let's trade! It'll be all or nothing,
let's do the event's show. I came here to give a show! Let's
brawl standing up and the best will win! If I have the chance
to take the fight to the ground, I'll take it to the ground.
But I'll trade standing up first.

FCF:
What do you expect for your career after this fight at MECA 6?
Do you have any plans to fight abroad?
JMP: First of all I would like to thank everybody at the Cleber
Luciano academy for all the support. Every time that I go there
they treat me very well. My cousin Lili is married to Cleber
Luciano, and we do good work there. My cousin is my manager,
and she always gets the fights abroad for me. As a matter of
fact in 2000 I had 17 wins, and I fought seven times abroad.
In 2001, I fought 3 times abroad, and I won the Pan-American
Jiu-Jitsu Championship. So, MECA gives you the opportunity to
go to PRIDE, and I already have a fight signed with the UFC.
I'm only waiting to finish my work here to be able to work on
that.

FCF:
You had a big rivalry with Pele in the past, but nowadays you
two get along very well. Do you fear that the fans from Curitiba,
Pele's hometown, will be all against you in the fight?
JMP: We're, Pele and I, both professionals. Inside the ring we
will try to beat the hell out of each other, we hate each other!
But outside of the ring we're professionals. We talk, eat together,
and shake hands and stuff like that! This is the life of a real
fighter. Outside the ring we're regular people just like anyone.
And inside the ring we do our work. Since I'm a very charismatic
fighter, I don't worry about the crowd. I have a very good psychological
aspect. I'm sure the crowd will scream and call me names, because
this is part of the event. But as much as they scream, it gives
me even more strength in the fight. I like it! But I'll also
have my supporters here. There are some buses with my supporters
coming from Sao Paulo to watch the show. I love when the crowd
from Curitiba calls my name! This is part of the event, and it
helps promote the sport, and this proves that I'm alive in the
sport. I'm not the sort of guy who talks a lot but doesn't put
his neck on the line. Currently I have 25 fights, with 20 knockouts
in under a minute! I also have 4 losses and a draw. If you take
a close look among the Brazilian fighters, I'm one of the fighters
with more fights on their records. Besides that, my defeats only
helped me to learn from my mistakes and improve my game.

FCF:
The best of luck for you, and thanks for the interview!
JMP: It was my pleasure.

Source:
FCF

4/18/02

Quote
of the Day

"Advice
is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we
didn't."

Rothwell earned a spot in Super Brawl 24 by winning the 8-man
qualifying tournament in Des Moines, Iowa in March. Trained by
Dave Strasser, he is well rounded and will certainly be one of
the favorites to win it all.
Crawford is a kick-boxer who trains with former UFC Heavyweight
Champion, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and the rest of Team Quest.
With lethal hands and wrestling and submission instruction from
some of the best in the business, he will be a formidable opponent
for anybody in this tourney.

UFC
Official Press Release

LAS VEGAS, April
9: Officials of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today
announced that tickets, £100, £75 and £50,
will go on sale Wednesday, April 10, for its first European fight
show to be held Saturday, July 13, at the Royal Albert Hall in
London, England. Tickets are available at the Royal Albert Hall
box office, at all Ticket Master outlets in the United Kingdom,
by calling Ticket Master at 011-44-020-7316-4709, or on the internet
at www.ticketmaster.co.uk.

The event also
will be available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, North America
and Brazil on British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), iN DEMAND, DIRECTV,
Dish Network, Bell ExpressVu , Viewers Choice Canada and Globosat
Programadora LTDA pay-per-view television. It also will be televised
on WOWOW-TV in Japan. The fight will be televised live at 7 p.m.
(BST, British Summer Time) on British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
and on a tape-delayed basis in the other countries. Viewing dates
and program schedules will be announced. The suggested retail
price in North America is $29.95.

A full fight
card will be announced but Heavyweight Ian Freeman (10-4-1 in
Mixed Martial Arts) of Sunderland, England, will meet Frank Mir
(4-0-0) of Las Vegas, Nev., and Middleweight Mark Weir (12-0-0)
of Gloucester, England, will fight an opponent to be named.

We are
really excited about bringing the UFC to the United Kingdom for
our first fight in Europe. The viewership for our weekly television
show on Sky Sports since February has been excellent and we are
looking forward to bringing the UFC live to thousands of U.K.
fight fans, said Dana White, UFC president.

The UFC airs a one-hour show, Ultimate Fighting Championship,
at 11 p.m. (BST) each Thursday on British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
It is soon to be expanded to two hours.

The Ultimate
Fighting Championship, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., is the
worlds leading mixed martial arts sports company. It is
owned and operated by Zuffa LLC and has distribution agreements
with WOWOW, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
in London, England, and Globosat Programadora LTDA and Sportv
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Ultimate Fighting Championship
is a sport that brings together the worlds most talented
mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes from disciplines such as karate,
jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling, sumo and others in a quest
to become an ultimate fighting champion.

Gardner
faces long odds, but no submission

By
Vicki Michaelis, USA TODAY

Rulon Gardner holds the snowmobile boots that were cut from his
feet after his ordeal in the forest. Mount Wagner, shown in the
background, was his destination.

AFTON, Wyo.  Jessica Gardner leans into the driver's side
window, glances toward the floor and asks her uncle the question
he always hears first. "How's your foot?" "It's
good," he says. "Wanna see my toe?" Rulon Gardner
reaches toward the back of his extended-cab pickup for a plastic
container sitting in a cupholder. In it is his right middle toe.
Gardner also keeps his 2000 Olympic gold medal in the truck,
in a handmade, wood-framed glass case cloudy with hundreds of
fingerprints. The medal used to be the main attraction in this
diesel-powered traveling museum. The story of how Gardner won
it by wrestling seemingly unbeatable Russian Alexander Karelin
into submission was his calling card. Two months ago, through
a night spent in unforgiving darkness and Jack London-like cold
and darkness, that changed.

On
Feb. 14, Gardner and two friends went snowmobiling in the Salt
River Range, a rugged group of mountains that run south of Wyoming's
famous Tetons and rise to the east of Afton, Gardner's hometown.

One
friend, Danny Schwab, turned back early to attend his daughter's
basketball game. Schwab was the only one carrying matches and
other survival equipment. Gardner and the third man, Trent Simkins,
became separated about 4 p.m. Soon after, Gardner steered his
snowmobile down a steep ravine and, inadvertently, into the Salt
River.

More
than 17 hours later  hours marked by creeping time and
fears as well as temperatures that dipped to 20-below 
a helicopter lifted Gardner out of the snow. His body temperature
was 88 degrees when he arrived at the hospital. His boots were
caked with ice. His feet were so severely frostbitten doctors
immediately feared he would lose all of his toes and, perhaps,
part of his feet.

Instead,
Gardner has lost only one toe and none of the bullishness that
turned this dairy farmer's son into a 285-pound world-beater.

Grappling with
comeback obstacles

"I
intend to watch him at the next Olympics," says Timothy
Thurman, the plastic surgeon doctor overseeing his care at Eastern
Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, a two-hour drive
from Afton. "I don't think we're going to hold him back."

Wrestling's
world championships are in Moscow this year, in September. Gardner,
30, would like to be there, defending the world title he won
in December. He doesn't know if he'll make it because since he
must compete at world team trials in June to qualify. He does
know this: Determination alone cannot carry him.

"My
feet will determine when I wrestle again. My mind  even
though I want to and even though it's strong  is not the
one in charge here," he says.

Thurman
is hesitant to predict when Gardner will be able to return to
the mat. The only thing definite is that Gardner, a four-time
national champion, will miss the U.S. championships next week
in Las Vegas.

"A
lot of guys would have quit after they beat Karelin. You can't
get much better than that," says Steve Fraser, USA Wrestling's
national team coach.

Gardner's
mom, Virginia, says what everyone thinks when they hear of her
son's desire to return to heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling.
She points to a picture hanging on the wall in the family's living
room. Gardner and Karelin are standing in a clutch.

"You
use your feet," Virginia says. "You've got to have
that for traction."

Says
Fraser: "The toes are very important, but how important,
I don't really know. If he gets on them and they're really painful
for pushing, that might affect him. If there's no pain, and he's
just missing that middle toe, I don't think he's going to miss
a beat."

Seven
of Gardner's toes have undergone skin grafts to replace dead
tissue. The right big toe still has a 2-inch pin in it, to restrict
movement while it heals. It is the toe that has Thurman the most
concerned. He said he doesn't expect Gardner to lose any more
toes.

Gardner's
right foot is worse than his left because he removed the sock
from his left foot before it froze. His hands got so cold while
doing it that he decided to leave on his right sock.

Rulon's experience

In the early afternoon of Feb. 14, Gardner and two friends drove
into the foothills of the Salt River Range. Their goal was to
snowmobile to the top of Mount Wagner. They didn't make the peak.
Gardner spent the night alone in 20-below temperatures:

1
p.m.: Gardner, Danny Schwab and Trent Simkins set out along the
banks of Cottonwood Creek.

3:30
p.m.: Schwab turns back to go to his daughter's basketball game.
He is the only one of the group carrying matches and survival
equipment.

4
p.m.: Gardner and Simkins become separated when Gardner decides
to navigate a steep ravine.

4:20
p.m.: Gardner plunges through ice into the Salt River and spends
the next 25 minutes pulling his 800-pound snowmobile out. He
then finds that his cell phone has no signal.

4:45
p.m.: Simkins senses Gardner is in trouble and goes back for
help.

4:45-6:45
p.m.: Gardner works his way southwest along the river but must
stop as darkness falls.

7
p.m.: Gardner takes a soaked sock off his left foot, but that
leaves his hands so cold that he decides to leave his right sock
on.

8:30
p.m.: First search party sets out. Gardner checks his watch and
decides not to check again until he thinks daylight is near.

6:30
a.m.: At daylight, Gardner starts walking before realizing he
should stay in one place.

7:10
a.m.: Gardner sees search plane. A coat is tossed down, but Gardner
never reaches it, instead drifting in and out of sleep.

9:20
a.m.: A helicopter lands. Gardner crawls to reach it.

9:40
a.m.: Gardner arrives at Star Valley Medical Center in Afton.
Doctors use a cast saw to take off his boots, which are caked
in ice.

He keeps both feet bandaged and wears cast shoes while walking
gingerly  "like a penguin," he says. Several
times a week, the bandages come off and a team of wound-care
specialists poke and prod at his toes before changing the dressings.
"It hurts, but it's one of those things where you accept
your punishment. I made a bad mistake," Gardner says.

Gardner
had no coat the night he was stranded. He had tights and snowmobile
bibs on his legs, and a ski mask on his face. On his upper body,
he was wearing a T-shirt, a sweatshirt and a fleece top. His
feet were the only parts of his body to get frostbite.

The
T-shirt, full of holes and tears, has become a symbol of his
survival. He sometimes wears it during it while getting his treatments
on his feet.

"There
were some mistakes made," says Gardner's dad, Reed, who
has spent nights in the Wyoming backcountry while on hunting
trips, "but he did lots of things right or he wouldn't be
here."

When
Rulon took cat naps through the night, he positioned himself
uncomfortably against trees so that he would wake up from the
pain. He stood as often as he could, to maintain circulation
in his toes.

"I
just said: Hey, you're in for a challenge, you're in for
a battle. You do or you don't. You survive or you don't.' I said,
There's no way that I'm going to die on this mountain,'"
Gardner says.

Near
the spot where Rulon was found, Reed says, rescuers discovered
a Hereford cow who had starved to death, with her calf, still
alive, at her side.

Rulon
didn't see the cow. He remembers waking up after seeing visions
of Jesus and of an older brother who died more than 20 years
ago. He remembers wanting a hot shower, repeatedly. He remembers
"just letting myself think of my wrestling career and the
future I had to go back to."

His
wrestling future rests on the recovery of his scarred, inflammed
toes. His present is spent shuttling between treatments, keeping
his schedule of motivational speeches and revisiting the warm
embrace of his small-town upbringing.

Most
days, he's in Idaho Falls, calling a Hampton Inn home. For several
weeks, he also made trips to Pocatello, to sit in a hyperbaric
oxygen chamber. The oxygen helps stimulate healing.

Carrying
Olympic message anew

By
early March, he was back on the speaking circuit, addressing
the National 4-H Council in Washington, D.C., and the National
Pork Industry in Denver while in a wheelchair. Gardner mentions
his night in the mountains during his motivational speeches,
but it hasn't become central to his message.

The
victory over Karelin, who before the 2000 Games had not lost
in 13 years, still is his hook. His University of Nebraska degree
in physical education, earned despite learning disabilities,
still is his prime example of his doggedness.

"I
haven't overcome this obstacle yet," he explains.

When
he can, Gardner drives home to Afton, home to 1,818 people and
the "World's Largest Elkhorn Arch," which spans a section
of Main Street.

Situated
in sprawling Star Valley, Afton has all the welcome trappings
of a small town. In the spring, it's hard to imagine what a cold
shoulder winter in western Wyoming can be.

Benton
Smith, a natural resource manager at the local U.S. Forest Service
office, calls the part of Bridger-Teton National Forest that
Gardner and his friends ventured into "mean, high country."

Last
week, Gardner made his first trip since the fateful night to
an overlook of the area. "It doesn't seem like I'm back
here, because I'm not in the situation," he says. "Now
it's springtime. It's a little eerie."

The
sun is warming the snow into rivulets. The thousands of snowmobile
tracks that crisscross the Salt River Range are fading into the
greening groundcover. The signs that welcome "sled heads"
to Afton, a town with a snowmobile in every yard, are out of
season.

They'll
come down, but the ones that proclaim Afton to be the "Home
of Rulon Gardner, 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist" won't. Throughout
town, banners stretch across fences and restaurant fronts. One
greets visitors to the Gardner's farm, south on the southern
edge of town.

"We're
just lazy around here. We don't take 'em down," Reed Gardner
says.

Rulon
sees no need. After he wins the 2004 Olympics, he says, everyone
simply can replace the last zero in "2000 Olympic Gold Medalist"
with a four.

We
usually don't make it our business to comment on partisan political
activities on this site, but sometimes there are exceptions.
This here thang called the Internet has, oh, several billion
other places to do so, and in every language known to humanity
and then some. But once in a long while something comes along
at one of these events that demands our attention and comment.

In
this case, it is a welcome occurrence.

President
George W. Bush spoke Monday at a dinner for Greg Ganske, Republican
candidate for U.S. Senator from Iowa, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel
in Cedar Rapids. This hotel, by the way, is part of a complex
including the U.S. Cellular Center, formerly known as the Five
Seasons Center, which was the site of UFC 26 on June 9, 2000,
when Kevin Randleman defeated Pedro Rizzo, and also UFC 21 on
July 16, 1999, when Pat Miletich successfully defended what was
then the lightweight title.

But
that incidental piece of trivia is not why Bush's remarks caught
our eye. (By the way, Bush mentions in his speech that he made
this trip without his wife, so I wonder if he visited that same
joint that I did when we were in Cedar Rapids with Gary Myers,
Al Gattullo, Joel
Gold, and
several others. Somehow I doubt the, er, dancers got security
clearance.)

Bush,
of course, was playing the local angle in his speech because
I doubt he imagined a web site in Abu Dhabi or anywhere else
outside of Iowa would pay too much mind to his remarks. So he
went about saying all the right things about all the important
local people, at least the Republicans.

'I
want to thank Greg's colleague, Jim Leach for being here tonight.
Jim Leach is one of the true class acts of the United States
Congress,' the President said, followed by applause. Then he
joked, 'He still reminds me that he was a fine wrestler in high
school and college, but not nearly as good as Dan Gable, and
I want to thank Dan Gable for being here tonight, too.' There
was more applause -- they do love wrestling and wrestlers in
Iowa.

But
Bush wasn't done. 'I know Greg is proud to call you friend and
supporter, and I know Iowa is proud to call you son. And they're
also proud of Cael Sanderson, and his incredible accomplishments,
as one of the finest college athletes ever. Cael, thank you for
being here tonight, as well.' And yet more applause.

Let's
see. Cael was eating Italian food with us in New York on Saturday
night and now at a political dinner with Bush in Iowa on Monday.
I wonder if Cael whipped out that raspberry tart he said he would
get to take out from Ferrara's. I don't think they have many
cannolis in Cedar Rapids, either.

Now,
does President Bush know something more about the importance
of Cael Sanderson, Dan Gable, and the sport of wrestling than,
say, the so many so-called journalists who have short-changed
their coverage of the sport? Here is the most powerful man in
the world honoring not only the legendary Gable, but also this
22-year old lanky kid from Heber City, Utah, who just single-handedly
rewrote the college wrestling record book.

Bush
was elected President, after all (I will try to listen to my
own advice and avoid the politics, if you Floridians know what
I mean), and certainly has a high approval rating now. Whatever
your political slant, even if you hate politics in general, when
the President of the United States takes the time to single out
a pair of wrestlers, people in the combat sports world should
look up and take notice.

Maybe
some of these pencil-necks in the mainstream sports media can
learn from the respect Bush has given to wrestling, and themselves
give honor where honor is deserved. Maybe he just knows something
about communicating with people that these alleged professional
communicators don't.

If
you must read the whole speech (and I haven't), 'Remarks by the
President at People for Ganske Dinner,' here is the link to it
on the official White House page:

Nearly 700lbs will test the ropes at the Blaisdell Arena in the
7th bout of Friday nights preliminaries! Wiuff (pronounced "VIEW")
carries about 5% bodyfat on his 270lb frame and scored a brutal
6 second knock out in the Des Moine, IA qualifying round. Henderson
is a load! He was robbed of a performance in the Utah qualifier
when he was pushed over the ropes just 30sec into the 1st round
and suffered a major concussion.

'Cary
Kolat flat out got robbed, and will win a world title next year.'
-- Chris Bono, on Cary Kolat's streak of bad luck, at the 2000
Olympics, on Chris's web site, at: http://www.chrisbono.com/.

NEW
YORK -- It will not be easy for either Chris Bono or Cael Sanderson
at this year's U.S. National Freestyle Wrestling Championships,
coming up April 26-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Although
Chris is ranked number one at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. in TheMat.com's
U.S. Senior Freestyle rankings, this is a brand new weight class
for him and everyone else in it. When FILA, the international
wrestling federation, had to reduce the number of weight classes
from eight to seven under what were essentially orders from the
International Olympic Committee, they fiddled with the weight
limits a little in some weight classes, but had to collapse two
of them into one somewhere. Thus, this new weight class was made
in-between the old 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and 69 kg/152 lbs. limits.
This meant that the wrestlers in these weight classes had to
choose to go up or down several pounds, like it or not, and most
of them plain didn't.

Bono
had wrestled at 150 pounds back in college, when he won an NCAA
national championship at Iowa State in 1996 under coach Bobby
Douglas. Now he would be wrestling almost five pounds lighter
than he did all those years ago.

'I
had a choice to go up to 163, but I decided to go down to 145
because it's more suitable to me,' said Chris. 'It's just been
a lifestyle change, and I'm in better shape and ready to go.'

But
going to this new weight class also puts him against some pretty
fair competition who had to move up -- including the same Mr.
Kolat who Chris argued, and not alone on his behalf, was robbed
at the 2000 Olympics.

Kolat
was a U.S. national freestyle champion in 1997, 1999, and 2000,
and an NCAA national champion in 1996 and 1997 at Lock Haven,
where he now is an assistant coach. He sat out 2001 after, for
the fourth time in four years, having a seeming victory overturned
on what appeared to be the road to a gold medal.

In
the 1997 world finals, his opponent untied his shoes on the mat.
In 1998, his second-round victory over eventual world champion
Serafim Barzakov of Bulgaria was overturned by protest, and Kolat
lost the rematch. In 1999, Kolat thought he had won his semifinal
match with Elbrus Tedeev of Ukraine 4-2, but that, too, was protested,
and then Tedeev won in overtime, 2-1. And in the 2000 Olympics,
Kolat beat Iranian world champion Mohammad Talaei 3-1, or so
he thought, only to have yet another match overturned by protest,
and only to lose yet another rematch, by a score of 5-4.

The
hungry and apparently snake-bitten Kolat, now ranked number two
at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., is not the only accomplished wrestler chomping
at Chris's heels. Bill Zadick, a 1996 NCAA champion at Iowa under
Dan Gable, and a National Team member last year at 63 kg/138.75
lbs., has also made the move up.

Chris
recalled that this will be his seventh trip to the U.S. Nationals
-- all without a national championship. Last year, he made it
to the finals, only to lose to Ramico Blackmon by a score of
6-3. Chris did not give up then, but went on to win the Challenge
Tournament at the World Team Trials, and face Blackmon again.
This time Chris would not be denied, and he won that best-of-three
series in just two matches, 3-0 and 4-3.

While
Blackmon has gone up to 74 kg/163 lbs., where he is ranked fourth,
the new 66 kg/145.5 lbs. weight class is one of the most stacked
divisions.

'I'm
excited,' Chris said. 'With all these good guys in the weight
class, it's made me train a little different, a lot smarter,
a lot harder. I'm prepared and I'm ready to go. I'm looking forward
to the national tournament out in Vegas here in the next ten
days.'

While
Cael's weight class in freestyle, 84 kg/185 lbs., will not have
changed much since last year, when it was 85 kg/187.5 lbs., remember
that during the previous college seasons he had wrestled at 184,
but moved up to 197 this year. But as he admired his raspberry
tart at Ferrara's and prepared to order another to take out,
he said he did not think cutting this weight would present any
problem.

What
Cael did not take lightly was his competition. Last year, he
won the finals of the Nationals by defeating 2000 Olympian Charles
Burton, 4-1. In the semis, Cael defeated Brandon Eggum, a three-time
NCAA All-American at Minnesota and now second-ranked in freestyle
in the U.S., 7-4. Cael also faced Eggum in the World Team Trials,
where the Minnesotan won the Challenge Tournament. This time
Cael shut him out, and twice, 9-0 and 4-0.

So
how good was Eggum? It was he who replaced Cael in the World
Championships when Cael decided to pass on that event when it
was rescheduled following the Sept. 11 attacks, and conflicted
with Cael's final college season. In his first World Championships
appearance, Eggum walked off with a silver medal, only losing
in the finals to Russia's world champion Khadshimurad Magomedov,
3-0, who was also a 1996 Olympic gold medalist.

Cael
is well aware that he, too, has his work cut out for him in the
Nationals. Besides Eggum and Burton, there is also Lee Fullhart,
a 1997 NCAA champion at Iowa, and, more importantly, the holder
of a victory over Cael in freestyle.

'It's
a real competitive weight, as are all of them,' Cael remarked.
'There are five world class athletes in every weight. You can't
really look at one individual. There are a lot of real good guys.
I'm going to have my hands full. It's a tough tournament.'

While
Chris and Cael are as focused as can be on the Nationals, they
also were learning about the state of wrestling in the New York-New
Jersey area. Chris commented how impressed he was by the wrestlers
at the clinics he helped run. (See 'CANNOLIS, CHRIS, AND CAEL
- Part One.')

'It
was unbelievable,' he beamed. 'We had a great turnout, and the
talent level was very, very good. When you do these clinics,
you usually deal with the real low skill level, and then occasionally
you have two or three kids that are real tough. But we had a
real high skill level today and a big turnout, so it was very,
very encouraging to see that kind of wrestling going on.'

I
also explained to Cael the dreadful situation in New York City
wrestling, particularly in the public high schools. There are
not many teams, only about 19, and most do not even have the
use of their own gymnasiums. I never fail to mention the plight
of Midwood High School Wrestling, whose Coach George Hero has
had to coach that team as well as one from a Catholic school,
at the same time, to get use of the Catholic school's downstairs
cafeteria for practices and meets.

This
revelation left Cael somewhat distressed, annoyed, and almost
in disbelief. He had grown up in Utah, and was a four-time high
school state champion at Wasatch High, with his father as coach,
Steve Sanderson, himself a former wrestler at BYU. I get this
reaction a lot from wrestling's elite, who are just unaware of
the dreadful lack of resources in so many places. And we were
talking about the state of wrestling in the town in which he
was then present, so I think the point got across.

But
Cael, as we all know, is no quitter, and neither are those who
make up the backbone of New York City wrestling.

'Just
keep working hard,' he encouraged them. 'It's going to come around.
It's going to pick up. Wrestling's a great sport. As soon as
people get a chance to see its beauty, they're going to get hooked
on it real quick.'

Dinner
time was ending, the cannolis and raspberry tarts were history,
and Chris and Cael had to get some sleep, do another clinic on
Sunday, and fly back to Iowa later that night. I asked Cael when
he was bound for Las Vegas.

He
replied that it was a few days before the tournament, but he
wasn't sure, since 'I just let Bono' do that. 'He does all the
arrangements. He tells me when to be at the Rec. center, and
we take off from there.'

There
also seemed to be a certain chemistry that worked between Chris
and Cael. Chris is older, more extroverted, now an assistant
coach, and a top wrestler, but not with the Superman-like qualities
on the mat that Cael displays. Maybe no one is. But these guys
work well together, which is also a tribute to the system head
coach Bobby Douglas has established at Iowa State.

Now
that he has finished his undergrad career, Cael has been offered
a position as an assistant coach at Iowa State himself. I asked
him whether or not he would accept, and he said that he was not
sure, without dropping a hint one way or the other. Clearly he
is pondering his many options.

Wrestling
is not often blessed with someone who can potentially be a superstar,
whose ability and charisma and skill and charm can just run right
over all the negative stereotypes and obstacles that keep wrestling
out of the headlines and top stories. Cael may help change that,
but we do not really know. We also are not sure just what options
he is weighing, just what affect his marriage next month will
have on his next move, how long he wants to be known primarily
as a wrestler, and how important art is to him. Perhaps he does
not yet have solid answers as to which road he will take. And
why should he? Is it fair or sensible to expect any 22-year-old
to have such a clearly charted roadmap for the future, especially
when it may involve two areas that promise uncertainty more often
than not, wrestling and art?

Whatever
Cael does, he WILL always remain a wrestler at heart. As he advised
the New York wrestling community, 'Wrestling's a great sport.
As soon as people get a chance to see its beauty, they're going
to get hooked on it real quick.' He is already hooked, and alongside
Bono, expect to see a whole lot more of him on the mat.

Source:
Abu Dhabi/Eddie Goldman

INTERVIEW:
FERNANDO VASCONCELLOS
of rAw TEAM

There
are many insiders in the business buzzing about the 'secret weapon'
of the rAw TEAM - Fernando Vasconcellos. A BJJ Black Belt WORLD
CHampion (defeated Jose Marcello in the finals, also defeated
ALLIANCE's Jamelao) now training with rAw Team. Our Brazilian
correspondent interivewed Fernando recently -

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- How's your life in the USA?
Vasconcelos- It seems that everything has or is about to fall
into place. I feel that I've surrounded myself with a group of
reliable people that are very competent and if I do as they say
I think I'll be set to do good things in the ring. My BJJ classes
are the biggest I have ever had. The group seems very enthusiastic
about training and even about competing which makes teaching
very rewarding to me. The whole gym seems to be growing a lot
which is cool because it's way more fun to take the wrestling
classes or go to the fighting training sections (that we've daily)
when there are more people to train with. The gym is fun to me,
and that means things are cool since I spend all my time there.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Is there anything that you miss about Brazil that you
can't find in the USA?
Vasconcelos- My family and relatives in Brazil.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- After your ADCC2001 fights and NHB debut will you abandon
the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition?
Vasconcelos- Everything is secondary to the goal of becoming
better at fighting. I'll do gi when that does not interfere with
that goal. As a matter of fact after ADCC 2001, I did a Judo
tournament in Brazil, and the US Open (BJJ) placing first in
both.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- And now are you representing the RAW team?
Vasconcelos- Yep

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Caol Uno was your first opponent, did you know his submission
game? Vasconcelos- I can't answer this question until I fight
him.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- That suplex that you gave to Uno did you learn that from
the RAW Team?
Vasconcelos- I think Chad had shown me that one as a possible
finish to a duck he was teaching me.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Uno is a great fighter in SHOOTO, did you think that
his Submission game is not as good as his NHB game?
Vasconcelos- I shouldn't judge the guys fighting ability only
on the limited grappling experience that I had with him. Grappling
is really important but is only an aspect of fighting .

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Your second fight was against Márcio Feitosa,
what did you think about your performance?
Vasconcelos- Not up to the standard that I expect out of myself.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Do you think that position of thorax triangle, was an
advantage for you?
Vasconcelos- He told the GRACIE Magazine it was working... to
tell you the truth, I had just learned the move and I thought
it wasn't working at all. I think had I known I was doing it
right I'd put a great deal of more power into it.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You won the best take down award of the competition,
would have it meant more if you would have made it to the semi
finals?
Vasconcelos- The take down thing was cool, it brought me recognition.
As far as meaning, I'll say that getting the type of decision
that I got on my last match meant a lot .

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What did you think about the ADCC2001 event?
Vasconcelos- It was good for me, I thought I came out of it with
valuable experience.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- The rAW team and the Brazilian teams have a good rivalry
and the rAW fighters always give Brazilian fighters a hard fight,
now that you're teaching the rAW team, will they be even more
dangerous?
Vasconcelos- I hope that my presence at the gym has helped someone!

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You had your debut in NHB in King of the Cage 12, how
did this opportunity show for you?
Vasconcelos- I told Rico what I wanted and he got it!

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Were you training NHB before or only started this kind
of training when your NHB debut was marked?
Vasconcelos- Specific training started around 6 weeks before
the fight

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You beat John Chrisostomo convincingly, were you pleased
with your fight or what do you feel you need to work on?
Vasconcelos- Denis, I did enough to win, but I still have a lot
of room for improvement

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Were you worried to fight a guy who had alot of NHB experience
(4-8-0)? Vasconcelos- When Rico first said something about the
guy I'd be fighting, he said the guy would be a begginer like
myself. Then things happened and I ended up matched with John

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Chrisostomo is from Grappling Unlimited, so he's a BJJ
stylist. What did you think about his ground game, does he really
have an effective guard?
Vasconcelos- I've not seen the tape yet and I can't really tell
you with any detail how the fight went

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Do you think that still there's a big difference between
Jiu Jitsu from Brazil and from other countries?
Vasconcelos- I think it's increasingly becaming an individual
thing rather then a country thing

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- And right now, after your victorious debut, what're your
goals?
Vasconcelos- To be the best I can at this fighting thing.

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Do you've any intention to fight in the UFC?
Vasconcelos- When time comes...

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Is there any contact for you to fight in next KOTC, which'll
be shown in PPV?
Vasconcelos- I was told I'd be fighting June 22 at KOTC

FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Ok man, thanx for your time and HuG.
Vasconcelos- Thanx for the opportunity

Source: Abu Dhabi/Martins Denis

4/16/02

Quote
of the Day

"Do
not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no
path and leave a trail."

Beauperthy
was convicingly beating undefeated Tim Sylvia (Extreme Challange
47,Utah Qualifier Champion) for over 10 minutes before finnally
getting caught. He will face Team Quest's Brian Stromberg who
recently beat Gladiators Challenge Heavyweight Champion, Kauai
Kapuhea. THis ex-arena football star has no fear and is not afraid
to trade bombs!

This match up puts Hawaii heavy Cabbage against Chad Neal of
Fresno, Ca. Neal, who tips the scale at 295, has a mixed martial
arts record of 20-1. These two monsters will battle in the final
preliminary fight on Friday night. Although Cabbage is one of
the many favorites to win the tournament and has gone 5-0 in
the last year, he will have no easy task with Fresno's brawler
Chad Neal.

The
Paraestra Dojo produced an all day SHOOTO event that took place
in two waves. Their was an afternoon and evening show which featured
an influx of European fighters. It was primarily Class-B match-ups
thereby allowing these foreign competitors a chance to get valuable
ring experience. However, there was one Class-A bout on the evening
card which was the return of, fan-favorite, Mamoru. This was
a big match for him after having lost the Featherweight title
in his first title defense to Masahiro Oishi. He is young and
very talented and has a long exciting career ahead of him, and
he intends to make the Championship a part of that. Additionally,
while HOOKnSHOOT was holding an all women card half a world away,
this show featured Marloes Coenen, who is being touted as one
of the best female fighters on the planet. She earned a decision
victory and now the stage is set for her to take on one of the
winners from HOOKnSHOOT evolution. She was originally supposed
to fight Erin Toughill on that card in Indiana, and many would
like to see it happen in light of her Marloes win. Also,
as is the tradition with Paraestra, there were three Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu matches that took place.

Chute
Boxe Team
Looking to Take Over K-1!
Text & Photos by Eduardo Alonso

With
the huge success achieved by the Chute Boxe Academy athletes
in NHB over the years, with Vanderlei Silva, Pele Landi, Murilo
Ninja, Anderson Silva, among others winning fights and titles
in the world's most important events, many could have wondered
why a Chute Boxe fighter was yet to step into the K-1 ring. The
Chute Boxe team is originally a Muay Thai team, and K-1 is the
biggest stand-up fighting event in the martial arts world, so
it was natural that many Chute Boxe fighters would have the desire
to compete and test their skills in K-1. Finally the chance has
materialized, and just one week before PRIDE 20, K-1 will host
the debut of a Chute Boxe fighter in the event. The man selected
for the job is Nilson de Castro [pictured]. A Chute Boxe fighter
who got his black belt on the same day that Vanderlei Silva got
his, and has already fought some tough NHB battles. Nilson is
an IVC veteran, and he was away from the ring for a while. However,
after some incentive from his teammates Nilson decided to come
back to the hardcore training at the academy, and resume his
fighting career! The decision proved to be the right one, and
Nilson de Castro came back with an impressive win at MECA 6 in
January, and he is now welcoming his chance in K-1, hoping to
open the doors to his teammates at the event and possibly start
an NHB career in Japan as well, much like his long-time friend
Vanderlei Silva. FCF had the chance to catch-up with Chute Boxe
coach Rudimar Fedrigo, and the man himself, Nilson de Castro,
just before they left for Japan!

FCF:
You have been dedicating yourself to NHB again, and even won
at the last MECA. Did this opportunity to fight in K-1 surprise
you?
Nilson: To tell you the truth I was expecting an invitation from
PRIDE, but since the K-1 invitation appeared, it was great! It's
every Muay Thai fighter's dream to fight in K-1! I welcomed this
opportunity very much, and it was a surprise -- a very good surprise.
I was expecting an invitation, but it was a surprise that it
came from K-1!

FCF:
Since you have been dedicating yourself to NHB, how long have
you been away from stand-up only fights?
Nilson: Well, to be honest with you I fight standing up every
day! [Laughs]

FCF:
[Laughs] Of course, but I meant not counting the Chute Boxe academy
training!
Nilson: [Laughs] I know! In terms of official fights, well, I
believe I haven't competed in Muay Thai since 1998, or 1999.
I have been doing only NHB lately.

FCF:
Finally a Chute Boxe fighter will be fighting in K-1. This could
be considered the realization of another Chute Boxe academy's
dream
Rudimar: Without a doubt, Nilson's fight will be very important
to us! This is something that we have been waiting for a long
time and he's very happy to be fighting at the biggest "Muay
Thai" event in the world.

FCF:
Considering that the Chute Boxe team is originally a Muay Thai
team, was it an old dream for the academy to have someone fighting
in K-1?
Rudimar: Yes, this was an old dream of the academy!

FCF:
How did this invitation for Nilson to fight in K-1 come about?
Was Nilson the first fighter that the promoters invited to fight
at the event?
Rudimar: Well, what happened was the product of a group of things:
The success of the Chute Boxe fighters in Japan, Vanderlei Silva's
good performances there, and also Nilson's excellent fight at
the last MECA. All those things lead to the invitation for Nilson
to fight in K-1, and I think it's going to be excellent!

FCF:
But Nilson, how did you get the news about this fight? Do you
remember how it was?
Nilson: Oh Yeah! I was training and the master came up to me
and said, "You were invited to fight in K-1!" Man!
It was really something you know. It was a huge happiness! I
mean, I got very happy!

FCF:
Was it tough to prepare a fighter to compete in K-1, and at the
same time prepare other fighters to fight at PRIDE?
Rudimar: No, we didn't have any extra difficulty because of it.
We were always working a more specific Muay Thai training with
Nilson, and he is feeling very well. He is prepared for this
fight, and I'm sure it'll be a great fight!

FCF:
How was the preparation for this fight? Did you train only Muay
Thai?
Nilson: Of course, I train exclusively Muay Thai for this fight.

FCF:
And how was the physical preparation? How much will you have
to weigh for this fight?
Nilson: The fight is under 90kg, and I'll fight at around 88,
or 87kg. The physical preparation was just my regular preparation,
nothing unusual. But the Muay Thai training, I mean, the technical
part of the training was very strong. We trained a lot!

FCF:
Whom did you train more with this time?
Nilson: I trained a lot with everyone here. I trained with Anderson,
with Vanderlei, with Ninja, Pele, Rafael, Cunha... all the guys
helped a lot! I would have a different guy to fight every day,
and sometimes I would have to fight them all in one day! [Laughs]
Nobody would take it easy on me! [Laughs]

FCF:
Nilson, do you think that being a Chute Boxe fighter, and having
the opportunity to train with fighters with very different styles,
like Anderson and Vanderlei, helps you to be an even more complete
fighter?
Nilson: A lot! It's a complete training. There's no way you won't
end up being good. It's impossible [not to] learn something.
There's no other way!

FCF: And what about Anderson Silva's jab? Is it still terrible
to deal with?
Nilson: Man! It's annoying! It's still terrible! [Laughs] With
those little "mosquito's" arms of his! Man! And a stronger
mosquito now! Because he's gaining some weight [Laughs] His jabs
are very strong! His reach is very long! It's always horrible
to train with him! [Laughs]

FCF:
Do you expect that this opportunity will open the doors for other
team members, such as Anderson Silva, who has this desire, to
fight in K-1 in the future?
Rudimar: Without a doubt. It's very important that Nilson will
have a good showing, because we have other athletes, such as
Anderson, who can and will fight in K-1 in the future!
Nilson: I want to be the guy that opened the doors for our team
there! I want all the guys to fight in K-1 too! Because everybody
on the Chute Boxe team wants to fight at least one fight in K-1,
so I want to open the doors in the best possible way! I'll grab
this opportunity with everything I've got!

FCF:
What do you expect from Nilson's fight? How do you see the fight
unfolding?
Rudimar: I think that Nilson will look for the knockout from
the start. He will look for the knockout in all the rounds. And
we are expecting him to win by knockout!
Nilson: Look, honestly speaking I don't like to comment on how
a fight will go or things like that. My only perspective is that
I want to knock him out! I don't have any strategy; I'll go after
him and look for the knockout. I'll look for the knockout from
the start.

FCF:
Do you know anything about your opponent?
Nilson: I know that he is Japanese, and he weighs 88kg, nothing
more.

FCF:
and you don't care about knowing more
Nilson: I want to fight my game there! This thing of analyzing
your opponent in the end will only prevent you from fighting
your game. I'll go there and do my game, and see what happens.

FCF:
Do you believe that Nilson's future will be on K-1 from now on,
or will he come back to NHB?
Rudimar: Well, as of now he has this fight in K-1, and maybe
a fight in the next MECA. But everything will depend on his fight
in K-1, because only after this fight we'll see what will happen.
Nilson: Well, I want to fight! Anywhere they invite me to fight
I'll fight! If I can continue doing both things, K-1 and NHB,
I'll do both things.

FCF:
Does the fact that Vanderlei Silva will be in your corner for
this fight, and that he helped a lot in your training, motivate
you even more for your fight?
Nilson: Of course! Without a doubt! When you train with Vanderlei,
you know that you're training with the best fighter in the world
today, so it's always an amazing training session.

FCF:
The fact that Vanderlei will face a K-1 fighter at the next PRIDE
helped his, and Nilson's, preparation in some way?
Rudimar: It helped for sure! They trained a lot together.
Nilson: Of course, for sure! We're going to fight different fights,
but the training ended up being good for both of us in fact.
But Vanderlei always trains a lot of Muay Thai anyway.

FCF:
Speaking of Vanderlei, what do you expect from his fight against
Cro Cop?
Nilson: Honestly speaking, Cro Cop will go down! Sincerely. He
will be knocked out. If he will trade with Vanderlei, he won't
end up standing. I'm sorry to say it [Laughs], but the man is
hitting very hard! There's no way! The guy always enters in Vanderlei's
game! When he comes right at you and start to trade, he dictates
the rhythm of the fight. He is really a very complete fighter.
Besides being technical he knows how to impose his rhythm.

FCF:
Will you stay in Japan to be in Vanderlei and Ninja's corner
for their fights in PRIDE, or will you come back to Brazil after
your fight?
Nilson: I'll stay and help Vanderlei and Ninja.

FCF:
By the way Nilson, what are you expecting from Ninja's fight
against Sperry?
Nilson: Man, Ninja is sincerely impressive! His ground game is
very strong, his Muay Thai is great and he is hitting very hard!
I wouldn't want to be in his opponent's place, he is going to
face hell in the form of a fighter.

FCF:
What can the K-1 fans -- who maybe don't know the Chute Boxe
Academy work that well yet --expect from the team in K-1?
Rudimar: They can expect that our fighters will give their best
in the ring, and all three athletes from the team that will be
fighting in Japan, Nilson in K-1 and Ninja and Vanderlei at PRIDE,
will fight very hard. They can expect a lot of dedication and
heart for sure! All the fighters know the meaning of these fights
in their lives and careers, and what they can represent to them.
So, they'll put their heart in the ring. I also believe that
there's a big chance of seeing other Chute Boxe fighters in K-1
in the future.

FCF:
Nilson, this will be your first fight in Japan, how are you facing
this experience, and what do you expect from fighting there?
Nilson: I'm facing it as my golden opportunity. This is my big
chance, and I want to establish my name there and sign a big
deal to fight there. I want to become Japanese! [Laughs] I expect
to be welcomed there like my friends, but I want to write my
own history there too!

FCF:
Any final message for the Chute Boxe fans?
Rudimar: They can count that those three fights will be three
really memorable fights! Fights that the fans will remember for
a long time. The guys are going to really make an impact. They
are going to Japan to win.
Nilson: I want to say that I'll try to trade from the beginning
and I want to knock him out very fast! I'll try to do a great
fight, a fight that the fans will enjoy watching. So I'll mark
my presence and please the fans. I want to show my value to the
fans and I hope they'll appreciate my fighting style. You can
bet that I'll always fight my heart out on the ring. This will
be my trademark.

FCF:
Thanks a lot for the interview, and the best of luck for the
team.
Rudimar: Thank you very much.
Nilson: Thanks a lot.

I
had the pleasure of chatting with Frank Shamrock a few days ago
and when the interview was done, I had even more respect for
Frank. Arguably one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, fighters
to step foot in the Octagon, let alone mixed martial arts in
and of itself, I got to the bottom of more than a few rumors
that have been floating around in various MMA news circles. During
our conversation we talked about a return to the UFC, his past
personal quarrels with big brother Ken, serial killers, Tito
Ortiz and why exactly he stepped away from the MMA spotlight.

Mike
Sloan: Hey Frank, what's up? I have about 50 questions for you.
Is that too many?

Frank
Shamrock: (laughing) No that's alright. No, it's always 50 questions,
don't you know? (laughs) Don't even worry about it. I do this
all the time. I'm pretty good at it, actually.

Mike
Sloan: So what have you been doing lately?

Frank
Shamrock: Well, I'm working out a little bit. I've been working
a lot, eating a lot. That's about it (laughs).

Mike
Sloan: Do you still train hard even though you haven't been fighting?

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah, I train every day. I always train every day.
That's kind of what I do. I don't have the 4 hours to put in
every day like I used to. Now I get the 20 minutes to an hour,
hour and a half sessions. I still get those in about 3 or 4 days
a week.

Mike
Sloan: You fought in last year's K-1. Will you participate in
this year's K-1?

Frank
Shamrock: Nah. That stuff hurt. It was far too painful.

Mike
Sloan: But your fight only lasted about a minute and a half.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah, but it's the training for it. You know, it's
always the training. It's never the fight, it's always the training.
I really wanted to do it and I have always wanted to be a professional
boxer and kickboxer, but it was real damaging. I got all beat
up from all the kicks and knees. You're just standing there throwing
your bones at each other and trying to hurt each other. I found
that in kickboxing, I got a lot more damaged than in grappling.

Mike
Sloan: How did that happen, with you going into the K-1?

Frank
Shamrock: They (K-1) asked me. Well, we were doing business together
at the time. Then they asked me if I wanted to fight and I said,
"Yes." Then they asked if I'd rather do kick boxing
in Vegas or no holds barred in Japan. I was like, "Oh, I'd
rather kickbox in Vegas," plus I was real excited about
kickboxing, so it worked out good.

Mike
Sloan: Wasn't your first appearance in the K-1 against Elvis
Sinosic an NHB-ruled bout, though?

Frank
Shamrock: Um, that is, that's true. I did fight for the first
time in the K-1 like that. That's where we developed our relationship
and I started working with the K-1 guys. But it wasn't under
the K-1 rules; it was under the new no holds barred K-1 rules.
We grappled and did all kinds of other stuff besides just the
kickboxing. The K-1 that I fought in, in Vegas, was just professional
kickboxing. It was a big difference.

Mike
Sloan: How difficult of a transition was it to change from training
in mixed martial arts to just strictly kickboxing?

Frank
Shamrock: It was difficult, but I didn't forget about it while
I was in the ring. I didn't think about doing anything different,
it just didn't feel as comfortable because I know so many ways
to counter what's going on. I was like, "Why am I being
kicked?!" because I know how to counter. I was like, "I
don't want that to happen!" but you have to stand there
and follow the rules, so it makes it a little different. I enjoyed
testing the rules and participating in it because it's a challenge
doing that.

Mike
Sloan: There are a lot of rumors floating around that you are
making a comeback to the UFC or some other MMA event. How true
are these rumors?

Frank
Shamrock: Well, I'm trying (laughs), so they're pretty true.
I moved back to San Jose from LA to go back to camp and start
training to fight. I haven't fought since then so I did the kickboxing.
That's the last thing I did. But the market's kind of changed;
it's a little different. There's really no one I care to fight.
There's nothing bigger and more exciting going on, so I'm just
hanging out and training and working on my businesses. For me,
I'm a martial artist. I look at it as a professional martial
artist athlete. I go there and do my job and that's it, then
I go home. (Laughs) Put ice on my elbows. I'm a regular guy.

Mike Sloan: Saying you do return, are you willing to battle it
out with Tito Ortiz again? That was, in my opinion, the best
fight I've ever seen in UFC history.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah, that was a good one. It was a good one. I don't
mind mixing it up with Tito again. He's kind of big. He might
fall on me and hurt me. But at this point, fighting Tito is like
reading the same book again, but if there's big money in it,
I'll do it. But for the most part, I've already done that. That
one's done so hopefully I can move on to something bigger and
better. That's the way I hope it works for me.

Mike
Sloan: Does it make you want to return to the UFC a little bit
more because Tito is the man right now? When you left, you were
the man and you already beat Tito.

Frank
Shamrock: No. I still feel like the man (laughs) so I don't worry
too much about it. It's fun to go and watch and hang out. I had
my fighter, Kelly, in there who fought, but I've been to 20 UFCs.
It's different now.

Mike
Sloan: Are there any guys in any organizations that you would
like to fight?

Frank
Shamrock: Well, I like Sakuraba. I've been trying to get Sakuraba
to fight me for about 2 years.

Mike
Sloan: That'd be a good fight right there.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah. I've always wanted to fight Sakuraba because
he's a guy who I always thought could beat me with my own techniques.
And that really exhilarated me into training and I actually started
preparing for that fight on two separate occasions, but they
never happened. That's a guy I'd like to fight. I'd like to fight
Vanderlei Silva because he's kind of scary.

Mike
Sloan: Yeah, he's wild.

Frank
Shamrock: He's scary looking. I'd like to fight him because he's
scary and if he whacked you, he'd kill you. That would be a big
incentive and really exhilarating to start training and to try
it.

Mike
Sloan: And besides, he's beaten Sakuraba twice.

Frank
Shamrock: And in convincing fashion both times.

Mike
Sloan: What is your take on the UFC these days, with Zuffa taking
over and changing the rules?

Frank
Shamrock: I think it's good. I mean, it's a step in the right
direction. Everyone's trying to legitimize the sport and I think
they're doing the best job they can. They've done great things.
They're back on cable, the sport's pumping, you know.

Mike
Sloan: You haven't fought in the UFC since Zuffa took over and
you said in an interview in FightSport Magazine that you like
the soccer kick. What other rules would you like to see come
back or be altered in the UFC, or other organizations for that
matter?

Frank
Shamrock: (Laughs loudly) That's funny! It's true, though. But
I look at it from a different standpoint. When I'm looking at
combat, I think to do the most amount of damage in the shortest
amount of time possible, utilizing maximum potential of your
body, that's really the goal in my job. I just see some techniques
that it would be so much easier if the guy was just passive like
that, whatever, just kick him in the head, knee him in the neck,
knee him in the kidney (laughs), you know, DO damage. I understand
the necessity for the rules and the presentation of all these
things, but I also understand from a combat point, from training
police or military, that sometimes you just gotta take people
out. There are just some very efficient ways and some of them
are not clean and they're not pretty, but they work. The soccer
kick is one of them. The gut stomp, the head stomp, these are
just some of the things that go on in combat, but perhaps don't
go on in sports, if you know what I mean. I'm in support of the
shortest, quickest way possible of handling business, but you
have to tailor that to whatever you're doing.

Mike
Sloan: What happened in there with Kelly Dullanty against Matt
Serra? How frustrating was it to see your guy lose like that?

Frank
Shamrock: I don't know. I wasn't that frustrated. (laughs) I
don't know. It was a learning experience for Kelly. He's a phenomenal
athlete with phenomenal talent, but he doesn't train. He's one
of those guys who skates by on athletic ability. He beat Duane
Ludwig and he trained for like six days. I haven't seen him for
like five months. So he has some issues that keep him from training
and if he addressed those and trained all the time, he would
be a phenomenal athlete. But he's lacking in certain areas. I
think it was a great learning experience for him. I had a great
time in Vegas and I got to go watch Kelly fight. See, to me it
doesn't matter if they win or lose. It matters, to me, what lesson
they learned. If they didn't learn anything, I mean they've got
smart guys in their corner (laughs), because this is a life's
lesson at the highest level. You're answering questions about
yourself and who you are and what you're doing, and there should
be a proper presentation. If you're going to go there, then you
should show up and show your all. He realized that wasn't his
all and that he could do more and do better. I appreciate that
and I loved the show. I thought Josh winning the heavyweight
title was huge. I'm glad I didn't bet (laughs).

Mike Sloan: Yeah. I actually picked Couture to win that one.

Frank
Shamrock: Well, I knew, mechanically, that Josh could beat him.
It just wasn't conceivable because of the past record of Couture.
If I was gonna bet money, I would have bet it over there. I ended
up not doing it because I had the job over there. It was a good
show, though. I enjoyed it.

Mike
Sloan: It was. It was even better because we were all sitting
together down there.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah. It was good and I was able to enjoy it. I wasn't
trampled or bugged too much. I was kind of incognito and, for
me, that's a very rare experience that I could go there and watch
it. Because, you know, everybody wants to come over and talk
and, you know, hang out with Frank Shamrock and see what's going
on. While that's cool and all, I rarely get the chance to sit
down and watch the show. So, for me, that was cool.

Mike
Sloan: Besides Kelly, who else do you train?

Frank
Shamrock: I train Bob Cook, Josh Thompson and I train Eric Deuce.
Well, I would like to say that I actually train these people,
but Bob Cook actually trains them all and Javier Mendez oversees
their training. I go in there three days a week and try and beat
them all up.

Mike
Sloan: Nice.

Frank
Shamrock: (Laughs loudly) Yeah, I'm like the little rattlesnake.
They call me the rattlesnake because they all go in there and
do their training and, you know, I work. I do whatever I have
to do, like doing my appearances and run around, then I like
to sneak in and train a little bit. I'm like the nemesis, so
they always try and get me.

Mike
Sloan: How often do you beat them all, every time?

Frank
Shamrock: No. I have devised ways of handling everybody so they
don't hurt me. I don't win every time, but I'm always efficient,
always safe and always doing more damage than receiving.

Mike
Sloan: Well, that's the way it has to work.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah (laughs). That way, I have longevity.

Mike
Sloan: Okay, you've been saying forever that the Gracies are
dead. Can you-

Frank
Shamrock: (Interrupting with loud laughter) Can I say something
on that comment?

Mike
Sloan: Sure, go ahead.

Frank Shamrock: I just said that because I was talking, and I
can't even remember the context of the conversation or whatever
we were talking about, but it was quite some time ago. I remember
saying the sentence and recalling that it was going to have lasting
effects, but I meant that in the arena that everybody is competing
in currently. In the UFC, the modern UFC fan today, to them,
the Gracies are dead. They don't understand. They'll be like,
"Oh you mean that guy from whatever?" They're a different
era. They're the next generation of fans, viewers and participants
and that's what I meant by that. If you talk to the first martial
arts fan who watched UFC #1, he is a Gracie fanatic. He completely
understands. If you watch the new fans who've jumped on at UFC
20, he is a Mark Coleman, submission fighting, wrestling, Tito
Ortiz fan. It's a new fan and I meant that to those people, the
Gracies are dead. They don't get it. They're like, " what?"
To the martial artists of the world, the Gracies are still the
kings of that sport, of that area because those are the people
that they touched first. Martial artists are loyal and, you know,
they've been down.

Mike
Sloan: Well that explains it now.

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah, but in modern combat, in this arena in the UFC,
the Gracies are dead. Like Pride, the technique, the approach,
the style, the discipline, everything has moved to the next level.
It just has evolved. And you either evolve with it or move to
the next level behind it.

Mike
Sloan: If you could take on one Gracie, which one would you take
on?

Frank
Shamrock: Um I don't really have a preference. (some thinking)
I doesn't really matter to me. I guess I would like Rickson.
Rickson's probably the biggest or most popular. I would fight
the guy who would bring me the most money at the gate. They're
all pretty much basically the same style, just different ages
and variances. Truthfully, it's the style and that's why I think
fighting Sakuraba would be so fun; he's the same style. If I
threw out three combinations, he would know it and be able to
move and counter. That's a big thing. That's like a lightweight
boxer throwing an 8-punch combination. That's just exciting to
watch. But I think that system's (Gracie system) an older system.
I think modern systems can combat those. But I would love to
fight the Gracies or any of those jiu jitsu stylist guys.

Mike
Sloan: Many people, myself included, felt that you left the UFC
and the sport too early. Did you leave because of your shoulder
injury or for other reasons?

Frank
Shamrock: Um I don't know if I ever I guess I left,
but I didn't really go anywhere. I retired because it was a thing
I did, legally, to get out of one of my contracts (laughs). All
I really wanted to fight was Tito. They're all like, "Oh,
you've got to fight a 5-fight contract" or something. They
wanted all these fights, but all I really wanted to fight was
Tito. All I really wanted to do was fight Tito because he was
the guy who excited me about it. But other than that, you know,
whoever (laughs). So I got the fight, made the fight, then made
my public retirement speech, gave back my title and stepped out
of the UFC because I didn't want to do what they wanted me to
do. I wanted to fight Tito, then do whatever was next, whether
it be kickboxing or something. I don't know. For me, the fighting
thing was really strange because all of a sudden I got really
good at it by default. One day I was training and doing my thing
and competing and I really didn't take it seriously. I started
training a bunch of people then I fought John Lober. Then I made
a conscious decision to put 100% of my energy into the sport
and be a professional athlete. At that time, I loved what I was
doing. It was like, "Okay, I'm really good now. I'll just
apply it," and I did. I studied everything and worked on
everything and applied everything. My run was a result.

Mike
Sloan: Prior to your retiring out of the UFC, you lost seven
times. You avenged most of those losses, but how come there was
never a rematch with Yuki Kondo, Kiuma Kinioku or even a rematch
for the draw you had with Alan Goes?

Frank Shamrock: I did have a chance to fight Alan Goes one time,
but he was like 20 pounds heavier than I was at the time. I was
like, "Ah, that's probably not a good idea." But I
was never into the whole avenging and rematch thing because I
kind of had different approaches as to what was going on in the
fight. I never really concerned myself with the fighter I was
fighting. I was really stressed about his style, so I kind of
looked at people and fighters as styles because styles gave me
trouble. The people didn't give me trouble. I never had that
thing where I was like, "Oh, I want to beat that guy!"
I was never like, "Oh, he's beaten me! He's got something
on me now!" Although when I fought Lober again and I was
training for that, about a week before the fight, I kind of had
that weird, 'Oh he beat me. Maybe he's got this weird power over
me' thing. Other than that, I never really had that desire or
need to go back. I genuinely like most of the people who are
competing in the sport. The people who do the sport are nice
guys and the fact that we're beating the crap out of each other
usually brings us closer. At the end, we're like, "Dude,
you almost broke my arm! It was terrible!" But somehow it
bonds you to these people at the same time. Male bonding or whatever
it is. So I don't have hard feelings towards these people. If
Tito would have kicked my ass, I would've been like, "Dude,
you KICKED my ass! I can't believe that!" because I would
have never conceived that happening. But should it have happened,
it would have happened and that's just the way it is. I would
have moved on. I still think him and I would have become friends
anyway. I never had that thing where I had to fight that guy
again. (laughs). Who knows? I fought one of my friends before.
I fought Vernon White and it was just retarded. But when I was
in there, I was like, "Okay, I know what Vernon can do.
I've gotta take care of his style."

Mike
Sloan: I've interviewed Tito before and I talk to him whenever
I see him at fights. I've asked him about you a few times, about
there not being a rematch. He's like, "You should ask Frank
that." Now I'm not saying he doesn't like you or anything
like that, but there just seems to be a bit of animosity because
of the loss and there wasn't ever a rematch.

Mike
Sloan: Have you ever fought anybody that you personally just
did not like?

Frank
Shamrock: Let's see. I got some Well, no Yes Um No (some
pondering) When I fought That's a snafu question. I've never
been angry at anyone with any fight I've had professionally,
except for when I fought John Lober.

Mike
Sloan: The second time?

Frank
Shamrock: Yes, the second time. He was sending me dirty emails,
calling my room and being obnoxious (laughs). And for some reason,
as soon as the fight started, I was going to kill this guy and
I just knew it. Then I was just torturing him because I was mad
at him. But afterwards, he came up to me and apologized and we
talked about it. It was another male bonding thing (laughs).
I felt terrible about doing that because it wasn't professional.
When I did that, it was jacked, you know? But it was fighting,
still, and that's how I look at it. But then we talked afterwards
and I was like, "God damn. I'm sorry." Then he was
like, "That's what I did to get myself up," and I was
sorry.

Mike
Sloan: But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, you know?

Frank
Shamrock: Exactly. It's business. Then afterwards, you should
be nice to each other during that business process because afterwards
you may hang out. You can talk shit and do whatever you need
to do to get yourself by and sell your image or whatever, but
at the end of the day, you've gotta live with yourself.

Mike
Sloan: Even though I've never seen it, the highlight of your
career HAD to have been the Burger King commercial.

Frank
Shamrock: (Bursts into loud laughter) I've never seen it either!

Mike
Sloan: You've never seen it?

Frank Shamrock: No

Mike
Sloan: So how did that come about?

Frank
Shamrock: Well, I moved to LA. When I do things, I do them full
force, 100%. So when I moved to LA, I was going to do acting
for two years. I got into a school of acting, started doing some
commercial work and all these things and I landed a Burger King
commercial. I actually landed an Old Spice commercial and I was
going to be their main guy in their first national campaign in
years. I just signed the UFC commentary thing the day before,
and those guys were like, "Oh, can you put that off a day?"
I didn't know how much money those things make. They make great
money!

Mike
Sloan: Do they?

Frank
Shamrock: Yeah! Commercials and stuff like that because they
keep playing. They're residual. I guess mine went really well.
I don't know if it was highlight, though. I don't know. Highlights,
for me, are like things in the gym where I discover things.

Mike
Sloan: What was the commercial about? Were you in the restaurant
ordering food or did you work at the register?

Frank
Shamrock: No, I was kicking on the bag. I was kicking on the
bag and looking quite menacing like I had just eaten some yummy
burgers and was beating up stuff.

Mike
Sloan: (Laughs) Oh god

Frank
Shamrock: (Laughs) No, they were doing like a 'BK for You.' It
was an urban athletic approach to Burger King. They had a guy
playing ball and showing clips of people's lives and doing things.
They had me in there beating on the bag and showed me punching
and stuff, looking quite menacing. It was fun, though. It was
easy. I went down there and I worked for like 45 minutes on tape.
They put powder on my gloves and sprayed stuff on me and then
it was done.

Source:
Sherdorg

4/15/02

Quote
of the Day

"Education
is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if
you don't."

Pete Seeger

Pride
NewsNogueira
vs. Mezger
"Highly Unlikely"

Word
from inside the Guy Mezger camp is that although Mezger was originally
supposed to fight on the April 28th Pride card (he's been training
under the premise that he would be fighting brawler Quinton Jackson),
last-minute changes in his opponent make it "highly unlikely
that he will be fighting in Pride 20."

Source:
FCF

The
Ever Evolving Matt 'The Terror' Serra

Matt Serra surprised
many at how quickly he dismantled and submitted his last opponent
in the UFC, but to those who know Matt, it was just part of the
evolution. Matt has finally found his place within the Octagon,
in the Lightweight category. I recently caught up to Matt. He
was excited about his recent victory and his road down the lightweight
division. Matt, though looking towards the title, is more focused
on the opportunity to test himself against the best lightweights
in the world.

I asked Matt
how he had been since his last fight. He said, 'Teaching and
hanging out, I have been rehabbing my bicep. Three weeks before
the fight I had a slight tear in it. I popped it boxing, but
I was in such good shape I was still able to fight. There was
no way I wasn't going to fight. I just focused cardio and pad
work to compensate for it.

I asked him
about the fight itself, what about that takedown, was that a
Jiu-Jistu technique? 'It was a very technical Serra bum rush,
Look out here I come. I was a dog going after a bone! I took
him down to side. I did the knee across to set up for elbows.
I want to evolve and pick it up a level. I wanted to strike more
to set up my submissions. I wanted to evolve a step more from
the Edwards fight. I wanted to use my ground skills to get him
in bad position. I eventually mounted him. When I punched he
turned back and I went for rear naked. The regular rear naked
doesn't work all the time. He actually put it under his neck
because of the pressure on his chin put it. When he rolled instead
of keeping the choke when he rolled back to the floor, I chose
to lose the submission to get position. We were both slippery.
I went for the arm bar, but he was intent to escape. He was not
out of the fire that is when I set up the triangle and it went
on tight. He had to tap or sleep.'

I also asked
him about how he felt about Shamrock in the corner. Frank is
said be one the greatest MMA trainers out there, where intimidated
by that? Matt replied, 'I am glad you asked that question, I
read in a magazine recently that Shamrock said, 'the Gracies
are dead and everyone knows it' The best thing about this fight
was beating a Frank Shamrock student. Shamrock said, in the magazine
'the Gracies are dead and everyone knows it,' but if they are
dead someone forgot to tell me, because I used 100% Renzo Gracie
technique to destroy his disciple.

How did he compare
Shonie and Yves? I asked. I didn't really get to see what he
could do, He wasn't any better or any worse than the others,
and I am evolving. He was a very game fighter. He was a worthy
opponent. As I said, I am evolving even after this fight. I am
more and more comfortable. I was calm in there. They could have
put anyone in there with me. Din would not have been any different.
I was confident. This is definitely my class.

The tale of
the tape said you weighed 163lbs. Matt responded, 'I weighed
153!' The tape was wrong! I ate chicken and no bread for a month.
I made weight! I weighed 153lbs damn it! Someone owes me an apology.'
He was laughing they whole time he was commenting. He did get
the pizza he had been craving.

I also asked
him about the weight division. He said, 'I cannot think of one
boring fight. I am strong and quick at this level. There are
some great battles and wars in that I want to be apart of in
that weight division.' I then asked, him about the fighters in
that division. What about Uno? 'Very well rounded, warrior spirit,
I would love to fight him.' What about Iha? 'He trains everywhere,
he is well rounded.' Rumina Sato? 'I think he is a great fighter,
the best submission fighter out of Japan.'

What about BJ?
Is his standup better than yours at this point? 'Let people think
that, that's all I got to say. We will see.' I then asked about
BJ on the ground. Matt said confidently, 'When we fight, he will
not want to be on the ground with me.' Do you respect his ground
game, 'He is a great guy and fighter. We will be professional,
that fight will be hyped more than any other fight that night
and I will buy him a beer afterwards.'

What about Pulver
going to PRIDE and possibly vacating the title, do you think
you deserve a title shot yet? I am just there to fight. I heard
Din is getting a title shot.'

When will you
fight again? 'September, I should fight then. I do not know who.
I want to be 100%.'

Are your BJJ
competition days over? Do you still want a Blackbelt world Title?
BJ took some of the prestige out of that. Do I want to be the
to be second American to win? I have Pan Am Gold and Mundials
gold, and an ADCC 2nd place. I want to concentrate on fighting
for now.

Anything else,
any Last words to your fans? 'For everyone who supports me and
to the UFC fans, you have been great, thank you! To all the trolls
- screw them, and to the lightweights, look out because Hell
and Jiu-Jitsu is coming with me. There you have it Matt the 'Terror'
Serra. He will be back in the Octagon in September to face whomever
they put in the cage with him. Don't look for the same Serra,
but one that will be ever more evolved than the last!

Source: Abu
Dhabi

CANNOLIS,
CHRIS, AND CAEL - Part One

'You're
him?' he eagerly asked, after he overheard a conversation about
wrestling by a group of people lined up to get into the famed
Ferrara's pastry shop in Little Italy this past Saturday night.
When he was told that indeed he was talking to undefeated four-time
NCAA champ Cael Sanderson, his eyes lit up and he summoned all
of his party over as well.

Though
profiled in Sports Illustrated, covered by newspapers galore,
and having had his final match televised live on ESPNews, this
encounter was the first time anyone on the street had recognized
Cael on his brief trip to the metropolitan area along with Chris
Bono to conduct a series of wrestling clinics. They had visited
Ground Zero, walked the narrow, crowded sidewalks of Little Italy
on a spring Saturday evening, and had only been spotted by what
turned out to be a couple of guys from the world of wrestling,
including one who had wrestled for the New York Athletic Club.

Cael
was not upset at his sudden anonymity. 'I'm a wrestler. We have
a small wrestling community. That's something you expect. It's
not disappointing or anything. I wrestle because I love wrestling
-- not to have people recognize me on the street,' he reasoned.

Their
trip to these parts was arranged by several of the leaders of
USA Wrestling in New York and New Jersey, with three clinics
scheduled over two days. In-between was this evening visit to
Manhattan, including dinner at La Mela and dessert at Ferrara's.

Chris
Bono, Cael's assistant coach at Iowa State and also a member
of the U.S. freestyle wrestling National Team, had seen this
before. A native of Philadelphia who moved to Florida around
the end of grammar school, he only moved to Iowa upon entering
college at Iowa State, and has stayed there ever since.

'Walking
around the city, I love it,' said Chris. 'I like seeing the people.
We don't get to do these kind of things in Iowa. Out in the Midwest,
it's just good old country farm living. But I like walking around
the big city, and I could be a city person if I had to be. I
like it.'

He
was not so sure about Cael. 'It was just funny watching Sanderson
walking around here, not knowing what the hell's going on, and
him holding his wallet in his back pocket and making sure nobody
gets it. But I did buy a pair of Oakley's for ten bucks, so I
was happy about that,' he said. For the uninitiated (or those
like me who wear prescription glasses), real Oakley sunglasses
are, well, not exactly found for that price. Remember, we were
in Little Italy, adjacent to Chinatown, where all sorts of miracles
can happen at a bargain price.

'I
don't know. I don't think I did, actually,' he said. But then
he insisted, 'Oh, it's an official Rolex. It's the real deal.
It's not plastic, or anything.'

What
was on the level was Cael's marveling at his first chance to
walk around Manhattan. 'It's real impressive,' the 22-year-old
native of Heber City, Utah, said. 'It's like nothing you've really
seen until you're here. So it's pretty awesome.'

Cael
was an art and design major, and is known to love to sketch,
but he did not have any time this trip to witness any of New
York's renowned art museums. 'I'm going to have to wait until
I get some free time. That may have to be a non-wrestling trip
there. I'm pretty busy,' he said, preparing to return to Iowa
the next night and then go on to Las Vegas for the U.S. Freestyle
Wrestling National Championships the following week.

But
he still finds time to think about art. And it might surprise
you when he answered just who was among his favorite artists.

'I've
been looking a lot at Michelangelo,' he said. 'He has a lot of
studies of the body. I'm a wrestler, so I like to draw wrestlers.
I look at how he draws muscles and big, buff dudes. So that's
who I've been studying lately.'

He
at first said he didn't think there was much connection between
art and wrestling. 'Wrestling and drawing are totally different
for me. I like to just go relax and have fun.' But then he said,
'Well, I guess I take the same approach with both things. Just
have fun, and do what I can.' I wonder if in all the interviews
by all the sports reporters with varying degrees of familiarity
with wrestling whether or not he had been asked that question.
It will be enlightening to see how he approaches it again in
the future. It is also awesome to imagine the end-product if
Cael's taking the same approach with art as he does with wrestling
results in similar success.

Meanwhile,
the conversation turned to what was in front of him. 'I like
my raspberry tart I just ate. That was good. I'm getting one
to go, actually,' said Cael. I joked that he might have to wrestle
up a weight if he continued to dine on anything from Ferrara's,
at which point Bono accused me of stuffing my pockets with goodies.
I wish. I had only had a cup of espresso, but had, let's say,
not left too much for the garbage pail rats at La Mela.

Chris,
of course, had no apologies for succumbing to temptation at Ferrara's.
'Of course not. You got to have a cannoli when you come into
Ferrara's,' he said, stating the almost inevitable. 'I only had
one,' now pretending to defend himself, then adding, 'But I got
a six-pack to go. I'm going to suck them down on the ride home.'

I
told Chris about these places I know that have five-dollar pitchers
of MGD. 'That's Bobby Douglas,' he retorted, referring to Iowa
State's head coach, a man with whom I share a loyalty to that
lovable, watery brew. 'I'm a Corona man,' Chris informed us.
But when I told him they carried that brand, too, he chimed in,
'I'll be there -- after the Open.'

We
also discussed another subject intricately linked to beer --
baseball. Cael had been invited by the Chicago Cubs, a team that
means much more to Iowans than most because of its Triple-A affiliate
Iowa Cubs, to come to Wrigley Field and lead the crowd in the
traditional singing of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' at the seventh-inning
stretch. But the game at which this was all supposed to happen
was rained out.

'Lucky
for them,' said Cael. 'I'm not very good at singing. But it's
postponed. We're going to go back later on in a little while,
so it's not a big deal.' He said he had been a baseball fan when
he was growing up. 'I played baseball, but since I went to school,
you don't have much time to do anything but wrestle. We watch
the big games, though,' he said.

Ah,
the Cubbies' loss could be New York's gain. I asked him and Chris
to sing this baseball anthem anyway, right there in Ferrara's.
'I probably don't know the words,' Cael claimed. Chris wanted
me to start, so, shameless as anyone else in the journalism profession,
I did, probably setting off a few car alarms in the process.
But after growling the first verse, I beckoned Cael to rescue
everyone's hearing.

'You
just sang the verse that I knew, so I'm out of luck,' he said.
So it was up to Chris to chime in.

'Root,
root, root for the Cubbies,' he implored.

But
Cael stood firm. 'I'm not singing. Not today.'

Mixed
in with all this talk about cannolis, New York, beer, raspberry
tarts. Michelangelo, baseball, and other items cultural, we did
touch on wrestling. But for that, you will have to wait for part
two of this report.

Source:
Abu Dhabi/Eddie Goldman

Royler
Gracie to fight in the U.S. and more

Royler
Gracie to Fight in the U.S. and more

Multiple
times World BJJ & ADCC Champion Royler Gracie told your interprid
reporter that he is in solid negotiations to fight in the U.S.
this year. According to Royler, he is negotiating for a Submission
Grappling match in late summer and an NHB fight in late fall.
More news on this as it becomes available.

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- What has
32 legs, 16 noses and weighs more than 4,000 pounds?
Answer: The tournament field for the upcoming Super Brawl 24:
Return of the Heavyweights.

That's right... the fighters
in this year's field for the mega 16-fighter tourney have an
average weight of more than 275 pounds. And, they have combined
to win more than 80% of their mixed martial arts matches.

Super Brawl 24: Return of the Heavyweights is sponsored by Full
Contact Fighter and promises to be the most exciting event held
in Hawaii in recent years. The two-day, 16-fighter tournament
is scheduled April 26-27 at the Blaisdell Arena and boasts $20,000
in prize money and hopefully an opportunity for some fighters
to point their careers toward the sport's major organizations.

"There is no shortage of size... or talent in this tourney,"
said Super Brawl promoter T.Jay Thompson. "I haven't been
this excited for an event in a long time. I look at the field,
and realistically we have at least a dozen guys who are expecting
to make it to at least the semifinals."

Just over two years ago in the same arena, Super Brawl held what
is considered to be the most successful heavyweight tournament
in the sport's history. Of the eight competitiors, six went on
to compete in either UFC, Pride, or both. Advancing to UFC were:
Josh Barnett, Bobby Hoffman, Travis Fulton and Ricco Rodriguez.
Advancing to Pride were Heath Herring, John Marsh and Rodriguez.

Barnett, the newly crowned UFC champion and winner of the first
tourney, will be on hand to personally put the belt on this year's
champion. Jens Pulver, the reigning UFC lightweight champion,
also will be in attendance.

Half of the field for "Return of the Heavyweights"
was selected through qualifying 8-man tournaments held earlier
this year in Iowa and Utah. The rest, were selected from a long
list of applicants asking to take part in the event.

"We have received more interest than we ever imagined,"
said Extreme Challenge promoter Monte Cox, who is co-promoting
the event. "We are trying to discover stars... and have
only accepted up-and-coming fighters who have no prior experience
in the UFC or Pride. We're looking to make some fighters' dreams
come true."

Ben Rothwell (11-1) of Milwaukee, Wis., won the Iowa event, while
Tim Sylvia (10-0) of Bettendorf, Iowa, won the Utah event. As
announced earlier, those fighters will be joined by local favorite
Wes "Cabbage" Coreirra (12-3), who has become a Super
Brawl standout.
Also competing will be muscular Travis Wiuff (5-1) of Minneapolis,
Minn.; Kerry "Meat Truck" Schall (12-4) of Cincinnati,
Ohio; Gabe Beauperthuy (6-3) of Colorado Springs, Colo.; and
Bryan Stromberg (1-0) of Portland, Ore.

All 16 fighters will compete in single bouts on April 26... reducing
the field to eight fighters. On April 27, the eight will continue
the tourney until one fighter wins three bouts (four over two
days) and is crowned the champion.

2002 USA Judo National
Championships
Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio
April 12-13, 2002

The following are the results for the
2002 USA Judo National Championships held at Public Hall in Cleveland,
Ohio. Over 120 of the top athletes in the nation competed in
9 weight classes each for men and women yesterday and Friday.
In addition, over 200 athletes ages 30-74 will compete in the
Masters Championships.

Results of Hawaii
Athletes who competed:

DIVISION: Women 78 kg AMY Tong, SAN JOSE, CA defeated NICOLE KUBES, FORT WORTH,
TX for First Place. This was Amy's fourth National Championship
victory (winning in 1999, 2000 , 2001, and now 2002). Amy was
also a 2000 Olympian and a 1999 and 2001 World Team Member. Note:
Amy's sister is Anna Tong, and oustanding wrestler and judo player
for Kaiser High School.

DIVISION: Women International
Open Division
(A person of any weight can contest in this category)KYONGFA KIM, HONOLULU, HI, HAWAII TOKAI INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE
lost in the bronze medal match and placed 5th.

DIVISION: Men 60 kg TAYLOR TAKATA, CO SPRINGS, CO defeated SHOZO FUKUDA, SAN JOSE,
CA in the finals to take the Gold medal. This was Taylor's first
Senior National Championship victory. Taylor is a 2000 Iolani
Graduate. He took the Gold Medal in last year's Pan American
Judo Union Championships, was a member of the 2001 World Team,
and a 2000 World Junior Team member. He is currently residing
in Colorado and training at the US Olympic Training Center.

Masters DIVISION: Male 45-49
yrs, 55kgMARK MURANAKA, H0NOLULU, HI, MILILANI YMCA JUDO Club defeated
JOHN ALANIZ, CHICAGO, IL, MILITARY ARTS INSTITUTE in the Finals
to take First Place. Mark is the Head Instructor for the Mililani
YMCA Judo Club and is the Vice-President of Hawaii Judo Inc.

Complete Results:
04-14-2002
For immediate release: SPORTS
The following are the results for the 2002 USA Judo National
Championships held at Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, April 12-13,
2002.

THIS WEBSITE POSTING
IS SUBJECT TO FINAL REVIEW AND CORRECTION. BRING SUSPECTED ERRORS
TO THE ATTENTION OF JOHN MILLER AT: jonmira@aol.com

After some
badgering from it's loyal readers and students, the Man Page
has finally been updated. Check it out by clicking here.

Btw, the Man Page is kind of like a boy's club. No women allowed.

4/13/02

Quote
of the Day

"One
hundred percent of the shots I don't make don't go in."

Wayne Gretzky

BJJ
- 1, Joe Son Do - 0

I don't know what
is up with Joe Son, but he is becoming a bigger freak each and
every time he is allowed the chance. In his last fight, he came
in a thong-type fight shorts with make-up. This time, Joe Son
took on BJJ black belt, Joe Morreira and came out with a real
snake around this neck. Joe Son then verbally submitted due to
a bitch slap. I guess Austin Powers 3 didn't call him back so
money is tight. Below is a segment from Sherdog's page concerning
Joe Son's actions. Also on the same card, Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu's
Marcus Vinicius lost a decision to Savant Young:

On the way there, I asked myself
"why are you going?" Well, I went because Joe Moreria
is a friend of mine from way back, and he was going to be fighting
Joe Son. Fortunately, I just finished my last therapy session
after watching Joe Son "perform" in Japan.

"And now entering the
ring, Joe Son!" I look down where Joe Son was, and he was
hugging a pylon. Just sitting there, hugging a pylon. One of
the promoters had to go get him and lead him onto the fighter
walkway. He came into the cage doing some crazy dance moves and
kung fu moves asking for the music to be blasted then, and during
the fight. Also as many of you might ask no there was no g-string
this time, nor any ropes to perform his mini sex act on either.
Joe Moriera came into the fight looking to be in incredible shape,
and you could tell he was ready to go.

Morreira stalked him down,
with some big slaps being thrown by both guys. Everyone thinking
cool Joe Son came to fight, maybe he will utilize Joe Son Do!
This didn't last long, as Morreira land a nice open palm to cut
Son on the cheek a little. Son backed up and touched his blood
and looked at it on his hand, like from a karate movie. Next,
Joe Son turned his back and ran in retreat, and verbally submitted.

Morreira stood in the middle
of the cage with his hands above his head, shaking in disbelief
as the fight was over. Joe Son should NEVER get another fight
ANYWHERE!

Source: Sherdog

Squeezing
Millions From a Phrase:
How a Few Words, In the Right Hands, Can Mean a Fortune
By Andrew Chang

Michael
and Bruce Buffer have extended their "Let's Get Ready to
Rumble" brand to the icon of Las Vegas, home of the big
fight  there are now slot machines that feature the famous
announcement.

April
11  Michael Buffer has probably made more money than anyone
else on Earth by stepping inside a boxing ring  and never
throwing a punch.

Buffer is no wimp. But his manicured hands, perfectly coiffed
hair, and gleaming white teeth attest to a life based on something
other than his fists. He comes to every fight dressed in a tuxedo.
And once he's inside the ring, he does what pacifist parents
tell their children when facing a fight. He uses his mouth. So
before the fists start flying, he lets out the one cry that earns
him his living. It's a cry that he can do like no one else 
by not only by virtue of his golden lungs and throat, but by
law.

And
it goes: "Let's Get Ready to Ruuummmmmmbbbbllllle!"

Let's Roll and
Rumble

With
those five words, Buffer and his brother have established an
empire that's made millions. Wholesale licensing revenues have
grossed about $150 million over the last three years, his brother-manager
Bruce said.

For
a brief announcing engagement that takes anywhere from 10 to
15 minutes, Michael Buffer makes in the range of $15,000 to $30,000,
his brother said.

The
money comes from far more places than boxing. Buffer's trademark
"Let's Get Ready to Rumble" slogan has allowed him
to branch out into announcing all matter of events  from
sports, to entertainment, to corporate functions and private
parties. Buffer has also extended to licensing products, among
them video games, toys and movies. He received a commission for
the 2000 Warner Bros. wrestling film Ready to Rumble. His personal
success is a particularly strong reminder of what's at stake
in the tug-of-war over another utterance, the Sept. 11-inspired
"Let's Roll."

"Let's
roll," for anyone who doesn't know it by now, is believed
to be the last known phrase mouthed by suburban dad Todd Beamer
before he and his fellow passengers on the doomed United Flight
93 took on their hijackers on Sept. 11, forcing the plane to
crash in a field. Since that tragic day, those two words have
been immortalized as a symbol of American bravery and defiance
in the face of terrorism. It has shown up on novelty items of
all sorts; singer Neil Young used it in an anthem, and the president
even tried to make it a rallying cry for the nation.

Now,
Todd Beamer's wife is trying to seize the phrase as her own,
fighting makers of floppy hats, keep-the-beer-can-cold foam holders
and other backyard-barbecue paraphernalia from hijacking the
memory of her dead husband. "Let's roll" is seemingly
as innocuous and ubiquitous as "Let's Get Ready to Rumble"
 and it could be as profitable and defensible as well.
"Let's roll' has a ring to it," Bruce Buffer said.

Careful Choosing

It's
takes plenty of work to stay in charge of million-dollar words,
however. "It's not easy," Bruce Buffer said. Buffer
told ABCNEWS he has been involved in "maybe over 100"
legal actions over the phrase  ranging from suing Iran-Contra
figure Oliver North because he led his talk show with it, and
to asking radio broadcaster Don Imus to cease-and-desist using
the phrase as well. Sony's Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema
also heard from their lawyers when they used the phrase in promos
of the movie Booty Call and Rumble in the Bronx.

Buffer
says he had "never, ever lost" one of these cases.
Awards have ranged from four figures to a "healthy"
six-figures. The key to their success, lawyers say, is the Buffers'
trademark on the phrase, and their willingness to use the law
to defend it. Buffer said much the same thing. One of the biggest
problems for trademarks, he said, is that if you allow too many
people use the phrase, then you've lost control. "If you
don't protect it, then you're in trouble," he said.

Not Universal
Protection

Just
because the phrase is trademarked though, lawyers say, that doesn't
mean no one can ever use it. A trademark's main purpose is to
associate a phrase or service with a particular source, said
Sharon Marsh, an attorney adviser for the United States Patent
and Trademark Office. The main issue is the "likelihood
of confusion," she said. To that end, trademarks must be
applied individually for any one of 42 classes  so a permit
for "Brand X" musical instruments would not prevent
someone else from registering "Brand X" pharmaceuticals.

Michael
Buffer originally trademarked his "Let's Get Ready to Rumble"
under a class that applies to announcing sports and entertainment
events. He has since branched out to obtain trademarks for other
things, like videogames and clothing. When "Let's Get Ready
to Rumble" has been used without license, Buffer's attorneys
have argued that their use created an inaccurate impression that
he was associated with the users.

In
their lawsuit against Oliver North, they alleged North's use
of a recording of his announcement unfairly associated him with
a figure with a "controversial reputation." Buffer's
promotion materials state he has "attained worldwide recognition
and acknowledgment as the source" of the phrase. "Let's
Get Ready to Rumble" is more than five words, Bruce Buffer
said. It also evokes his brother's voice, his presence and the
"visual image of a fine-looking human being" pronouncing
them, he said.

Two Other Protections

While
a trademark for one class of item might not apply to other classes
of items, lawyers said there are additional protections arising
from copyrights. One is the issue of dilution, which can prevent
a company from registering a certain trademark regardless of
the difference in class. It mostly applies to marks that are
so famous any use of them would affect the value of the mark
to the owner.

One
of the best real-life examples of a company using the dilution
argument is "Toys R' Us," which has quashed attempts
at similar names like "Lawyers R' Us," said Mark McCreary,
a lawyer with Philadelphia firm Fox Rothschild, O'Brien &
Frankel. Another example, he said was that "if Company A
wants to use "Intel" to describe a handgun, Intel Corporation
would have a very strong argument that registration of the mark
'INTEL' for handguns would dilute Intel Corporation's mark."

Buffer
might also seek protection under the rights of publicity, said
Robert Zielinski, chair of the Committee on Trademark, Copyrights
& Unfair Competition of the Philadelphia Intellectual Property
Law Association. "It prohibits people from economically
exploiting that person's likeness without compensating that individual,"
Zielinski said.

One
of the most famous cases took place in 1992, when Frito-Lay hired
a Tom Waits impersonator to sing a song, based on one of Waits'
songs for a commercial, after Waits had repeatedly refused them.
Waits argued that the song made his friends think he had sold
out, and the jury awarded him $2.5 million. In 1988, Ford tried
a similar stunt, hiring Bette Midler's back-up singer for a commercial
after Midler refused. The jury awarded Midler $400,000.

"'Let's
Get Ready to Rumble' was not associated with boxing in that unique
manner before Buffer adopted it," McCreary said. If someone
used that phrase, people might assume "somehow it is Michael
Buffer or is clearly trading on Michael Buffer's notoriety or
celebrity status," Zielinski said.

Defending the
Treasure

The
protections are extensive, Bruce Buffer agreed  but he
said much more than that comprises the success of "Let's
Get Ready to Rumble." "You got to keep it fresh,"
he said. That means more than protecting it from other people,
but also diversifying, he said. His brother announces all manner
of events, including NBA games, Indy 500 races  even Fox's
Celebrity Boxing, and an Aerosmith concert, he said. As he's
diversified, he also been selective with whom he allows to use
the phrase. For example, Buffer said, they don't let strip clubs
use it. An idea is "worth as much as you put into it,"
he said. "To me, all business is the same it's just the
product that's different and you can have a diamond in your hand,
but if you don't market it correctly, it just becomes another
piece of coal."

He
brings up the phrase "Show me the money," a popular
tag line in the 1996 film, Jerry Maguire. It had the momentum
behind it, but no one capitalized on it, he said. It's probably
still available, he said, but it wouldn't have the same cultural
weight now that 'Let's Get Ready to Rumble" does. Lawyers
said there were others: former President Bush's "wouldn't
be prudent," noted McCreary. Zielinski cited Steve Martin's
extended, "Excuuuse me." Even if these had been properly
executed, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" would still probably
be the top of the heap. "It's probably the most famous phrase
said by a human being in history," Buffer said.

Again
he says, it's much more than the five words  and much more
than a lucky ring announcer. It's also a "grand partnership
between two brothers," he said. "I don't think it would
have worked with anyone else." For that reason, it's hard
for Bruce Buffer to entertain any ideas about selling the "Let's
Get Ready to Rumble" trademark. When asked, he first said
he'd only sell it for "millions." And then he said,
"I'll entertain that offer when it happens."

"It's
hard to put a price on a life's work," he said.

Factbox

There's often
a great deal of confusion about what makes a patent, a copyright,
a trademark, and a servicemark. ABCNEWS explains:

Trademark:
Protects
branding of goods, like the golden arches of McDonald's for hamburgers.Servicemark:
Protects
branding of services, like Jiffylube, for the auto-service firm
that provides oil changes.A Copyright:
Protects
artistic, literary, dramatic, motion picture, musical and architectural
work, like the C 1977 in your copy of The Thorn Birds or the
C 1982 at the end of your tape of E.T.A Patent:
Protects
an invention, like the slot 1 interface for Intel's Pentium chip,
or Compaq's MultiPrime encryption/decryption technology.

Trademarks are often the most confusing because they are the
hardest to perceive as creations. One of the main criteria of
whether or not a trademark can be obtained is how common it is.

Words or phrases
that are too descriptive, or too widely used within a certain
industry, are usually rejected, lawyers said.

"Drive
Safely," which is being used by Volvo in its ads, was rejected
as a trademark because it was too widely used in the car industry
altogether, said Sharon Marsh of the U.S. United States Patent
and Trademark Office.

The same argument
has applied to "Made in the U.S.A." for clothing manufacturers.
"Made in the U.S.A." might be open for trademarking
as a day-care center though, Marsh said.

In contrast,
"America's Freshest Ice Cream" was denied because it
was too descriptive, said intellectual property lawyer Mark McCreary.

One unusual
trademark that was approved is "Baby on Board," said
McCreary. It was OK'd for maternity clothing and prenatal health
care. In 2001, someone filed for a trademark for novelty signs,
McCreary said.

The filing
fee for a trademark application is $325 per class of goods or
services. Legal fees, McCreary said, would be in the neighborhood
of $500. Each trademark lasts for 10 years.

Source: Sherdog & ABCNews

4/12/02

Quote
of the Day

"The
most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms.
The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks
and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust,
confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith."

Four more fights
have been added to the card for UFC 37: High Impact on May 10,
2002 in Bossier City, Louisiana. Plagued by injuries, the card
has taken longer than usual to finalize.

In a Lightweight
bout, The Prodigy BJ Penn returns to action to take
on UFC newcomer Paul Creighton. Penn is coming off a five-round
war with Jens Pulver that saw him on the losing end of a majority
decision. He is 3-1 in the UFC and is ranked among the top five
lightweights in the world. Creighton trains in Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu under the legendary Renzo Gracie. With a 5-0 record in
MMA, Creighton has been wrestling since age five and is a purple
belt in BJJ.

Ivan Salaverry,
from AMC Pankration in Seattle, Washington, will take on Russian
Andrei Semenov in a Middleweight bout. Salaverry won the Hook
N Shoot Middleweight Championship on March 9, 2002 when he defeated
then-champion John Renken by TKO in 23 seconds.

The two preliminary
fights will feature all new blood in the UFC Welterweight division.

Aaron Riley,
fighting out of AMC Pankration in Seattle, Washington, will take
on Robbie Lawler, who trains with Pat Miletich in Davenport,
Iowa. Riley is 11-2 in MMA and has been involved in some of the
most exciting fights ever. His most notable fights were his wars
with UFC veterans Steve Berger and Yves Edwards. Lawler is undefeated
in MMA and recently defeated Japanese fighter Shogun Kawakatsu
by TKO.

In the second
Welterweight prelim, Joao Pierini will take on Benji The
Razor Radach. Pierini, a 2nd degree black belt in Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, is 5-0 in MMA and trains with Eugene Jackson at the
Gladiators Training Academy. He has won all his fights by submission
or knockout. Radach (10-0 in MMA) is one of the top students
out of Dennis Hallmans gym Olympia, Washington. He has
knockout power and coming from Hallmans camp, hes
very well-rounded in all aspects of the game.

The official
card for UFC 37: High Impact is as follows:

Middleweight
Championship Bout

Murilo Bustamante
(champion) vs. Matt Lindland

Heavyweight
Bout

Ricco Rodriguez
vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka

Middleweight
Bouts

Andrei Semenov
vs. Ivan Salaverry

Phil Baroni
vs. Amar Suloev

Lightweight
Bouts

BJ Penn vs. Paul Creighton

Caol Uno vs.
Yves Edwards

Welterweight
Preliminary Bouts

Aaron Riley
vs. Robbie Lawler

Joao Pierini
vs. Benji Radach

Ultimate
Submissions premiers tonight on
pay per view at 10:00 pm eastern. The show is a one-hour feature
highlighting the best submission finishes in the UFC's history.
The show will be broadcast on iN DEMAND, DirecTV, Dish Network,
Bell Express Vu, and Viewer's Choice Canada. It will be replayed
throughout the month of April. Check local listings for date,
time, and channel.

In
a surprise turn of events occurred during last night, FCF just
received the info at around 1:20 AM here in Brazil that Gary
Goodridge won't be facing Minotauro's twin brother! But Rogerio
won't be out of the PRIDE card, and instead his new opponent
will be another PRIDE and UFC veteran, none other than Guy Mezger!
Mezger is coming off a loss to Ricardo Arona, and a win over
Nogueira can boost his career in Japan once again. This creates
an interesting match-up, since both guys are closer in weight
than Goodridge and Nogueira were. As Nogueira's camp was all
set for a fight with Goodridge, this last-minute change of opponents
came as a big surprise to them.

NEW YORK, April 11 -- Ending months of speculation and negotiations,
Setrak Agonian, president of the Metropolitan Wrestling Association
of New York, announced Wednesday right before a freestyle wrestling
dual meet at the New York Athletic Club between teams representing
the U.S. and Russia that the 2003 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships
will be held in New York City. Both men's and women's freestyle
wrestling will be included in this event.

The
2003 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships had originally been
scheduled for Slovakia, but, according to Agonian, that country's
Olympic Committee recently agreed to have the event moved to
New York after the Metropolitan Wrestling Association requested
the change. The 2001 World Championships of Wrestling had also
been scheduled for New York, but were postponed and relocated
following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Metropolitan Wrestling
Association was playing a key role in organizing that event,
being the competition managers, and will do likewise for the
2003 event.

Just
as had also been planned for the 2001 event, the NYC2012 organization,
which is leading New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympics, will
again play a major role. Wendy Hilliard, Director of Sports for
NYC2012, said that the 2003 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships,
like the planned 2001 event, will take place at Madison Square
Garden, but that the exact dates are still being worked out.
The event is planned to take place in September, 2003. A formal
press conference announcing the 2003 event will take place at
New York's City Hall 'soon,' she said, once the final dates are
decided.

The
Metropolitan Wrestling Association had also sought to host the
2003 Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships, which will be
held in France, but according to Agonian, that country's representatives
would not agree to the move. The 2001 event originally was to
have featured both men's and women's freestyle along with Greco-Roman.

There
are still some obstacles to overcome, however, before this plan
can be successfully carried out.

The
2002 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships are scheduled for
Tehran, Iran, Sept. 2-5. U.S. wrestlers did not compete this
year in Iran's prestigious Takhti Cup tournament, and Iran did
not attend the World Cup of Freestyle Wrestling, held in Spokane,
Washington, last weekend, as they have done for many years. President
Bush has declared Iran to be one of the three countries included
in what he calls the 'Axis of Evil.'

Thus,
while U.S. freestyle team members are planning and hoping to
compete in the 2002 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships in
Iran, there is a possibility that the U.S. State Department might
advise otherwise, depending on the world situation.

If
the U.S. team skips the 2002 World Championships, some countries
might want to skip the 2003 World Championships in New York in
retaliation. However, 2003 is an Olympic qualifying year, so
skipping the 2003 World Championships will make it more difficult
or perhaps impossible for some countries to qualify in wrestling
for the 2004 Olympics, which will be held in Athens, Greece.

Also,
stricter visa screening by the U.S. might make it difficult for
wrestlers from some countries to enter the U.S. for the World
Championships.

Right
now everyone is hopeful that international tensions will subside
enough so that both the 2002 and 2003 World Championships can
go on unimpeded by any political concerns.

Bringing
the 2003 World Championships to New York is also a boost to NYC2012.
The U.S. Olympic Committee (U.S.O.C.) will select this November
one city from among the four remaining candidates to submit to
the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) as its bid city
for the 2012 Games. Besides New York, also in the running are
Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Houston.

A
critical factor in selecting that city, both for the U.S.O.C.'s
nominee and the I.O.C., will be its track record in hosting major
international competitions in Olympic sports -- like the Freestyle
Wrestling World Championships. Many also expect that there will
be a huge sympathy factor favoring New York, both in the U.S.
and internationally, because of the Sept. 11 attacks.

When
the exact dates for the 2003 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships
are determined, we will report them right here.

Source:
Abu Dhabi

4/11/02

Quote
of the Day

"All
my experience of the world teaches me that in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred, the safe and just side of a question is the
generous and merciful side."

Anna Jameson, 1794-1860, British Essayist

AFC
2 Coming Soon!

The Amateur
Fighting Championships will be coming soon. The promoter, Ray
"Bradda" Cooper, is still finalizing the date with
the Blasidell Arena.

If
you are interesting in fighting in this event, contact Ray at
696-5502 or LINEBREDLLC@AOL.COM

Heath, good
to see you, it's been a while since we last met; what do you
think about tonight's show? I'm looking forward to the show,
got a lot of guys fighting out there tonight; for the most part
I think everyone will do well, they're all in good shape and
Murat makes his debut so we don't want to put too much pressure
on him, but he's a good fighter and has the ability to win; Fatih
I think will dominate his fight and Paul is just a Wildman you
know and is always good to watch.

Your prediction
on the main fight Heath? I don't know; Gilbert has been doing
a lot of ground training and if he takes it to the ground he
will win quickly, but if he stands up with Bob, one of them is
going to get knocked out as they are big hitters. It's too hard
to call on that one.

Do you think
there's a lot of pressure on Gilbert to win? Yes that's right;
when you have a lot of pressure on your hands it's harder to
focus, but it will be interesting to see how he manages out there
tonight.

Can you talk
about your recent clashes in Pride Heath? Sure thing; I fought
Noguera in November for the heavyweight title and lost it and
that's the way it goes sometimes; a lot of people think it was
the best fight they have ever seen, not me though because I did
not win (laughs) but he's the champion and he's only 23 and has
a long way to go in the sport.

How did you
cope with the loss? I came back to Holland and kept on training
and faced Igor last month and won my fight, I came back ready
and hungry man.

What next fight
wise Heath? I don't know yet Carl; everyone is talking at the
moment so I don't have anything definite on the table, get these
fights out of the way tonight and I'll have a better picture
then.

Who do you rate
in the heavyweight division in Pride? I think Pride is full of
top heavyweights, you just have to look at the top ten list and
that's why it's the best for me and that's where I want to stay
fighting; I'd like to fight in my home country as it's my homeland
you know but right now Pride's the one for me.

If the money
was right would we see you in the UFC? Of course, I wanna come
back; I love Japan and the way the fans treat me and Pride treat
me real well, but I'd like a deal where I could also fight in
the UFC; the exclusivity deal I understand for organisations
as they need this, but if there was a way I could switch back
and forth like Sem Schilt has done, that would be worth it.

Still enjoying
it here in Holland? Yes, I am loving it here and I have even
got my brother Hunter over for a week as he on spring break and
is in from Texas and has been in the gym with the guys; he's
a football guy but came in and wrestled; he's a monster, 335
pounds and six seven you know, I was the only one who could do
anything you know (laughs) but it was fun. I'm still with Cor
Hemmers in Breda where we jokingly call it the Evil Mickey Mouse
Club with all the guys and we have a good team going right now.

How did you
feel when you beat Mark Kerr in Pride, as you needed that win
very badly? Yes it was an important win for me for sure, like
every win and the way I won it as well was good for me, there
was a lot of emotion and Mark Kerr is one of the biggest names
in the fighting world.

Do you feel
the time limits are long enough in Pride for the fights? I think
Pride and UFC need to keep the fights the way they are and to
keep standing fighters up a lot more, as well as few other rule
changes and a rule where they can break fighters up when they
hug on the ground, UFC is trying to do that a bit more.

When did Kazeka
Muniz join the posse? About a month ago and he's doing real well
and there a lot of guys his size, as a lightweight but he also
has to fight the bigger guys like myself which can only be a
good thing.

Last words from
Heath Herring? Just keep watching guys and hope I'm fighting
the way you guys want me to fight; I'm a showman and want to
keep you guys entertained.

Thanks for the
time and I'll let you get back to the others. No problem Carl.

Source: Abu Dhabi

Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu Purple Belt To Take On Black Belt in the UFC?

It
happened with Frank Mir and Roberto Traven in Las Vegas... and
RUMOR has it that Renzo Gracie student Paul Creighton will face
Nova Uniao stand out BJ
Penn at 'UFC
37: High Impact' at the Centurytel Center in Bossier City, LA
on Friday, May 10, 2002. The 31-year-old Creighton, a purple
belt in BJJ, seen as one of Team Renzo's rising stars is to face
the 23-year-old BJJ black belt Penn
at High Impact.

An
accomplished wrestler, Creighton is a Junior Olympic National
Wrestling Gold Medalist and 2X New York State Wrestling Silver
Medalist.

In
March 2000, Creighton became the International Fighting Federation
(IFF) Lightweight Champion. He followed that up in December 2000,
with a championship win at Holiday Fight Party in Atlanta, GA.

Creighton
has also seen success at the Calhoun Submission Open in March
1999, where he earned the Lightweight NHB Championship.

Outside
of MMA, Creighton won the Middleweight Championships at the 2000
Sport Jiu-Jitsu World Championships in Leeds, England.

This
cannot be an easy decision for the UFC management, as they already
have Matt Serra, a Renzo Gracie student, in the lightweight division.
But it must be difficult to find a suitable opponent in the given
time frame. Not only is there less than 1 month before High Impact,
your opponent is 'The Prodigy' BJ Penn.

As
the 28th of April approaches, the PRIDE 20 card continues to
look better and better. FCF was told today about 3 new matches
for the card. As has been already mentioned on the Internet,
Chute Boxe fighter and PRIDE veteran Murilo "Ninja"
Rua will be facing none other than Brazilian Top Team member
and 3-time BJJ World Champion Mario Sperry! This will mark the
first meeting of two big name fighters from both camps in the
ring, and could build an even bigger rivalry between the two
camps! This fight was confirmed by both camps and will be announced
by PRIDE at any moment! As if Wanderlei Silva vs. Mirko "Cro
Cop" Filipovic, Gilbert Yvel vs. Sam Greco and "Ninja"
vs. Sperry wouldn't be enough for a great card, FCF learned today
about two new matches that are confimed for PRIDE 20!

In one of the matches, Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira,
Brazilian Top Team member and "Minotauro's" twin brother,
will be making his PRIDE debut against seasoned veteran Gary
"Big Daddy" Goodridge! Goodridge was also Rodrigo Nogueira's
first PRIDE opponent, and now he'll welcome Minotauro's twin
brother to PRIDE. In addition, two PRIDE veterans will be returning
to the ring on April 28th... Ricardo Arona will face off against
Dan Henderson in a fight that promises to have big implications
in the run for Wanderlei Silva's middleweight title. FCF was
told today that all 3 fights are a done deal. Keep checking FCF
for the latest PRIDE and fighting news!

In
a conversation with Saulo's brother 'Xande', we were informed
that the Multiple Times World BJJ Champion and ADCC World Champion,
Saulo had an emergency Apendectomy. According to 'Xande', Saulo
will spend the night(04/10) in the Hospital and will return home
hopefully on 04/11. Xande continued to say that his brother is
doing well and should have a full recovery.

Because
of this, Saulo will be unable to compete in the upcoming Grapplers
Quest Tournament event , and Xande is going to be the replacement
(it all stays in the 'family'). The 2 time Pan-American Champion
and Arnold-Gracie Champion is looking forward to he challenge
even on short notice.